Chris Smith: Annie, the lost Oakmont dog, has been reunited with her admiral

For three weeks, folks in and around Oakmont scanned their neighborhoods and held their breath.

Were was Annie?

The schnauzer is the closest friend of the widowed, 94-year-old Wendell “Mac” McHenry, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral.

In mid-April, the two of them were enjoying a mellow no-leash romp on the east Santa Rosa retirement settlement's polo field when Annie ran off.

Sensitive to noises, she may have been spooked by the bagpipe wail that concluded a funeral at the nearby Star of the Valley church. Regardless of what made Annie run, she was gone.

Dog lovers can imagine Mac's anguish.

He phoned his daughter, Leslie Hunter, who launched what would become a near-epic search. She posted appeals online and printed up and distributed stacks of lost-dog fliers.

Her dad the admiral didn't just sit and mope and hope. Figuring that the 12-year-old Annie would hunker during the day and travel at night, he again and again took his car out after dusk and rolled slowly through the Oakmont and the neighboring Wild Oak.

As he went, Mac held out the window his dog's favorite squeak toy, squeezing it.

Twenty-two days passed.

At last, a family living on Rincon Valley's Badger Road, more than five miles from the Oakmont polo field, went online to Josie's Lost Dog Alert of Sonoma County to check for a notice regarding the stray schnauzer they'd spotted on and off for several days in the woods near their home.

Seeing the appeal about Annie, a member of the Badger Road family picked up the phone. Thus alerted, Mac and his daughter were on their way in a nanosecond.

For more than an hour on Badger Road they called Annie's name and squeaked her toy. At last the dog, thinner but otherwise undiminished, stepped onto the road, ran up and jumped into the car.

So many tears, so many kisses. From now on, whenever Mac and Annie are outdoors they'll be linked not only by heartstrings but a leash.

WALKING FOR BERNIE isn't an option for veteran Sonoma County peace-and-justice activist Barry Ponneck.

But Parkinson's disease won't stop Barry from hosting a May 29 concert and dance for the self-proclaimed “democratic socialist” seeking the Democratic nomination for president.

Barry hopes the 7 p.m. Boogie for Bernie dance and rally at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center will bring in some donations for his candidate.

Having lined up Clan Dyken, the Bear Bones Band, Hoytus Rolen and purveyors of food and family-friendly drink, Barry trusts that at the very least the Bernfest will be a hoot.

REAL PEOPLE, people yearning to save themselves and their families are who John Namkung met when the Sebastopol resident traveled to Greece to help the Syrian refugees and others who have fled their homes in the Middle East.

Namkung invites anyone interested to learn more about the realities of the refugee camps to come meet him, hear his stories and see his photos and videos at 7 p.m. Monday at Congregation Ner Shalom in Cotati.

“It is clear to me that the news we receive here in the United States about the refugees is minimal and superficial,” Namkung said. He aims to help remedy that.

Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.