Above: Ron Florence, center, brings Woody and Chloe, the stars of the Kentucky Press Association’s NIE serial, for a visit with children at the elementary school in Mason County. Left: Author and “mommy” to Woody and Chloe, Leigh Anne Florence shows off her famous friends.

Above: Students from Hopkins County welcome Leigh Anne Florence with a banner that reflects Woody’s motto “Work and Dream Like a Big Dog.” Right: An older fan offers Chloe a little sugar during a visit to Marshall Elementary. Photos courtesy of Leigh Anne Florence

And the crowds go wild
NIE series pays off for creator, papers and pets

By John Whitlock
Kentucky Press Association News Bureau Director

They may well be the most beloved wiener dogs in Kentucky.

As an integral part of the Kentucky Press Association’s Newspapers in Education program, dachshunds Woody and Chloe have touched the lives of thousands of children and have helped promote literacy and newspaper usage across the commonwealth.

Leigh Anne Florence, the creator of the Woody and Chloe series, said the series has not only been a success for KPA and NIE programs across the state, it has been a deep-moving experience for herself and her dogs.

Florence said one of her most touching moments happened at the Carlisle County News when the family of an elderly woman brought her into the newspaper office to meet Woody and Chloe.

“Her dachshund, Charles, had passed away and she wanted to come and just hold Woody and Chloe for a while,” Florence said. While at the office, she asked the lady at the desk for a copy of Chapter 7. She had collected all the chapters, but was missing chapter 7. Since that day, she has mailed me a few cards to keep in touch.”

At The Paducah Sun, even church couldn’t keep some fans away.

“We knew this would be a memorable event since Paducah is Woody’s birthplace,” Florence said. “Due to scheduling conflicts, the only night we could find for this event was a Wednesday. We knew this would be tough since it would conflict with mid-week Church services. Two ladies in their 60’s told me they were ‘missing prayer meeting for the first time in ages so they could meet Woody.”

Sometimes, the dashing dachshunds trigger an almost Beatles-like frenzy.

At the Henry County Local in New Castle, Florence said people stood in line for hours to have their scrapbooks signed.

“It was amazing,” Florence said. “We felt like the entire town had come to meet the pups.”

It’s not just the adults who are crazy for the canines.

Florence said the Paintsville Herald buses classes from the schools to the local library to have their scrapbooks signs and to meet Woody and Chloe.

“It was so exciting to see kids hold up their scrapbooks,” Florence said. “While they were waiting for the pups, they were all chanting ‘WOO-DY, WOO-DY.’ One particular little girl cried so much when she had to leave that her mother brought her back after school.”
For Florence, one of the most memorable visits came in her hometown of Murray where students were bused in to hear her presentation and ask questions of her and the pups.

Chip Hutcheson, publisher of the Princeton Times-Leader, said taking part in the adventures of Woody and Chloe has been a good experience for the paper and its readers.

"It's been great for us," Hutcheson said. "Woody and Chloe have generated a lot of excitement for us especially among the students and teachers."

Hutcheson said the Woody and Chloe series has truly helped in the education of young people.

"When this started and they were doing the geography of the state, we heard that the teachers felt that it fit very well into the curriculum especially at the elementary level," Hutcheson said. "It helped fill in a lot of voids that wasn't covered in school."

Although his paper was slow to start one of the recent Woody series, Hutcheson said he received a lot of requests to pick it up again from teachers and students.

"They called us," Hutcheson said. "They were very proactive about the whole thing."

The readers' dedication to the puppies adventures has even surprised Hutcheson.

During a mid-week visit to local elementary school near the end of the year, Hutcheson saw first-hand the dogs’ celebrity.

"It's been remarkable," Hutcheson said. "It was the middle of December and everyone usually has their minds turned to holiday shopping but there was a big crowd of students and parents there just to see Leigh Anne and her dogs."

It's the quality of the series and those personal visits that help inspire loyalty in the readership, Hutcheson said.

"She does a great job," Hutcheson said. "She and those dogs truly are celebrities."

At the Times-Leader, the paper sells sponsorships to offset some of the costs but Hutcheson said participating in the program has had some unexpected benefits.

"We get a lot of young people looking through the paper that might not normally read the paper," Hutcheson said. "Through the dogs, they are drawn into other parts of the paper. They see their names or their friends' names in the sports section and they want to read more. For a paper in a community the size of ours, that's great."

"My wife is a fourth-grade teacher so I have some insight," Loyd Ford, publisher of Lake News in Calvert City, said. "I can tell you, this is an excellent program and really gives students and young people an appreciation for reading."

Ford said selling sponsorships to defray some of the costs has been relatively easy.

"We get a lot of support for the program," Ford said. "I think that's because people realize there is a need for it."

Woody and Chloe have also helped draw new readers to the paper and created a considerable amount of goodwill between the Ford's paper and the communities it serves.

"We have about seven elementary schools in two counties (in the paper's coverage area)," Ford said. "Every classroom where they were requested we put paper in the hands of children and that's great. There’s been lots of support. It's a great program and the kids learn from it. It gives them a nice interesting story that they can relate to.”

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