Newt’s Nook is open for business, and just in time for Thanksgiving
The heated, air-conditioned facility at the Animal Guardians sanctuary in Texas, named for former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, provides a safe, healthy environment for injured rescue dogs, particularly pit bulls, to recuperate until they are adopted.
“We’re thrilled to help such a worthy project,” said Dawn Rizos, owner of The Lodge gentlemen’s club in Dallas, who funded the shelter after Gingrich rejected her donation to his political organization. “I wish Newt were here to see these wonderful dogs and know that we’re giving them a chance for happier lives.”
Staff members of the Lodge and Animal Guardians teamed up for a dedication ceremony this week, hanging a large “Newt’s Nook” sign on the building and welcoming dogs to the new facility. The sign, created by Lodge bartender Bryan Calloway, features a caricature of a smiling Gingrich and a friendly pit bull.
The idea for the shelter stemmed from an Entrepreneur of the Year Award that Gingrich bestowed on Rizos, then rescinded. In September Gingrich’s organization, American Solutions for Winning the Future, invited Rizos to receive the honor from him at a private dinner in Washington on October 7. A week before the dinner, upon learning The Lodge was a gentlemen’s club, Gingrich’s organization said there had been a mix-up and told Rizos not to attend. He refunded the $5,000 she had mailed in to attend the dinner, and Rizos used that amount to pay for construction of the shelter.
“… We were disappointed to suddenly be rejected,” Rizos said. “But instead of holding a grudge, we decided to make something positive out of his bad manners.”
“I can’t tell you how much this new building means to us,” said Annette Lambert, director of Animal Guardians, located 40 miles north of Dallas. The rescue organization cares for more than 100 dogs at its sanctuary.
Rizos announced that The Lodge would donate an additional $100 to Animal Guardians for every dog adopted from the facility through Valentine’s Day 2010, and give each adopter a gift certificate to The Lodge or, if that environment is not to their liking, Stratos Global Greek Taverna, a popular Dallas restaurant.
(Photo: Lodge VIP Manager Sunny Hunter with Animal Guardians rescue dogs outside the new Newt’s Nook rescue building; courtesy of Mike Precker)
We’re proud to unofficially unveil the sign that will welcome visitors to “Newt’s Nook — A Home for Pitbulls.”
Now under construction in Celina, Texas, the shelter was made possible by a $5,000-plus donation from a Dallas strip club owner — the amount being a refund of what she paid to attend a dinner to receive an “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Newt Gingrich’s organization, American Solutions for Winning the Future.
American Solutions, as we told you yesterday, mistakenly bestowed the honor on Dawn Rizos, the owner of The Lodge, a popular Dallas strip club.
When former Speaker of the House Gingrich, a week before the awards ceremony, uninvited Rizos, he agreed to refund the $5,000 that she, as instructed, had submitted in exchange for the privilege of eating dinner with him. He refunded her airfare as well.
“At first our feelings were hurt,” Rizos said. “But then we figured at least we could make something positive out of his bad manners.”
About the same time Rizos got her refund, she heard that Animal Guardians of America had an urgent need for a heated and air-conditioned shelter for rescue dogs, primarily pit bulls, at its sanctuary in Celina.
“We do a lot of charitable work and we love animal rescue groups,” Ms. Rizos said. “The cost was about the same as the amount Newt sent back to us, so we decided to do something good with it.”
The formal dedication for Newt’s Nook is scheduled for early November.
“We’re sorry that Dawn was treated so unfairly,” said Annette Lambert, director of the Animal Guardians chapter in North Texas. “But this will be great for a lot of wonderful dogs. I hope Newt will stop by sometime to see what we’ve built in his name.”
Rizos says Gingrich is invited to the opening, as well as to The Lodge, which describes itself as “the country’s best-known and most-honored gentlemen’s club,” and one that has “set national standards for elegance and integrity, and helps hundreds of people support their families and improve their lives.”
“He’s always welcome at The Lodge,” Ms. Rizos said. “We don’t hold a grudge. And we still have a lot to talk about.”
(Photo: The sign, created by The Lodge bartender Bryan Callaway, that will welcome pit bulls to their new shelter; courtesy of Mike Precker)
What do they have in common? I’ll leave that up to you to decide. But here’s a hilarious story, with a happy ending, that involves all three.
It all began in September when Dallas businesswoman Dawn Rizos learned she was to receive an “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from American Solutions for Winning the Future, a conservative group led by Newt Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker.
Rizos didn’t think it all that odd that the organization would be honoring her business, legally known as DCG, Inc., but doing business as The Lodge, one of the finest strip clubs (I’m told) in all of Dallas.
American Solutions — designed to “rise above traditional gridlocked partisanship to provide real, significant solutions to the most important issues facing our country” — was one of the big pushers of that national tea party, and it serves as the political arm of Gingrich’s empire as author, pundit and consultant .
The fax from American Solutions explained that Rizos was being honored as “Entrepreneur of the Year” for her “success in building [her] business and recognition of the risks you take to create jobs and stimulate the economy.”
But apparently American Solutions didn’t know that Rizos’ DCG was stimulating more than the economy; it had sent the fax to the wrong DCG. (In point of fact, The Lodge does stimulate the economy, as well, with 150 employees, and contracts with an additional 570 dancers or entertainers, one of whom they award with a college scholarship annually.)
Winning the award from the conservative think (but don’t double check) tank, came with a $5,000 fee, payable to American Solutions (a mailed check, since Newt doesn’t wear a garter belt), and for that Rizos would have had the chance to “dine privately with Newt,” and have his ear on ways to “turn this country around.”
Rizos paid, and she booked an airline reservation as well.
Then the conservative group learned they had honored the way wrong company, stripped The Lodge of the award, and promised to pay Rizos back the fee and what she had paid for the airline ticket.
Now, the owner of the topless club has decided to pass that refunded money on to Animal Guardians of America’s sanctuary for rescued dogs in Celina, about 35 miles north of Dallas. It will be to use to build a shelter for pit bulls and named in honor of the former House speaker, the Associated Press reported.
“Newt’s Nook — A Home for Pit Bulls” is now under construction.
Rizos says she’ll invite Gingrich to the formal dedication in early November.
