DATE: Friday, May 9, 1997                   TAG: 9705070122

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   84 lines

TOWN TALK

Michelle Garstenauer of the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake is excited as she can be.

Her family's portrait will be hanging in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington. It will be there with scores of other family photos from across the country on display from May 20 until Labor Day, Sept. 1.

No, they're not related to Chester A. Arthur or John Wilkes Booth or any other well-known figure in American history. It's just that her family's group portrait was one of the selected winners in the Discover Card American Family DISCOVERed Sweepstakes.

But oddly enough the Chesapeake family portrait is part of an electronic kiosk in the museum filed under the Michigan region. Say what?

Well, here's the deal.

Garstenauer said her aunt from Sterling Heights, Mich., Marie Porolniczak who took the photo, was here in Chesapeake last summer, attending a family pig pickin' at Garstenauer's Clearfield neighborhood. She said she brought along University of Michigan T-shirts for the family: one style for the males and another one for the females. Everybody in the family donned the shirts and posed for the grand family photo by the volley ball net.

Several months later, Porolniczak submitted the photo for the charge card's sweepstakes but under the Michigan regional category.

``She sent them a letter about us being from Chesapeake, Virginia, but wearing Michigan shirts,'' Garstenauer said. ``We're tellng everybody that they accepted the photo because we're so beautiful. But, seriously, I guess the contest thought it was a neat idea that we were in one state and wearing shirts from another. Whatever the reason, they accepted it and it's at the Smithsonian history museum.''

Featured in the photo are: Michelle and her husband Andreas Garstenauer; her sister and brother-in-law and their infant son, Millicent and Patrick Gallagher and Gunther; her mother and father, Marlene and Mitchell Pantak; her brothers Mitchell, Mark and Martin Pantak; and her grandmother, Ottilie Porolniczak.

All of the above individuals except for grandma, live in Chesapeake. Mrs. Porolniczak resides in - where else? - Michigan.

Garstenauer said the family plans to go up to the nation's capital en masse to view the portrait sometime around Memorial Day.

- Eric Feber Top dog

Ivory, the 7-year-old golden retriever owned by Elaine Maciag of Wilson Heights, could be well on his way to becoming the Great American Dog.

Maciag recently found out that Ivory was one of 50 semi-finalists in the Ralston Purina Dog Chow's ``Search for the Great American Dog'' contest. Maciag submitted a photo to the contest and recently received notification of Ivory's status along with a $100 savings bond and a bag of the dog food.

Along with a photo of the pooch, she also had to write a 150-words-or-less essay about why she considers her bowser to be a Great American Dog.

She said she began her essay with ``he is a typical golden retriever, loveable, loyal, lazy and a lollapalooza of a dog.''

He may be all of the above things, but actually, lazy he's not.

Ivory is a a member of the Canine Cadet Drill Team and he's a certified Therapy Dog who visits eight Chesapeake nursing homes a month, bringing companionship and love to many elderly shut-ins. He also holds a CD or ``companion dog'' title, which takes many hours of intense obedience training as does his Therapy Dog designation.

Maciag said Ivory loves to swim, play ball and romp like most dogs. But when visiting residents of nursing homes, he's on his best Therapy Dog behavior, which means no barking, no crazy moves, no jumping and no running around.

``He just likes to get up close and personal with the residents,'' she said. ``And they love that. They look forward to his visits.''

Macaig said that when she got word of Ivory's status, she was completely thrilled and excited. Ivory? He took it in stride.

``He slept,'' she said.

Keep posted to this column: we'll know in about two weeks if Chesapeake's own Ivory, the loveable Therapy Dog and drill-team member, becomes one of five finalists who will be flown to Washington, D.C., for a possible prize of $10,000 for his owner and a lifetime supply of Purina Dog Chow for himself.

- Eric Feber ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARIE POROLNICZAK

The Pantak family (back row, left) Mark and Martin Pantak, Andreas

Garstenauer and Mitchell and Mitch Pantak; (front row, left) Patrick

and Millicent Gallagher, Michelle Garstenauer, Ottilie Porolniczak

holding Gunther Gallagher and Marlene Pantak.

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