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RATFEST PHOTOS!
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2005 Roster
View the 2005 Photos!
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* = Both Days
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* = Saturday Only
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* = Sunday Only
1. Cathy P. - Gales Ferry, CT
2. Dr. Ann (Andover Rattery) - Andover, MA
3. Jane A. - New York, NY
4. Kim S. - Worcester, MA
5. Melissa P. - Rochester, NY
6. Lydia A. - Hartford, CT
7. June H. - Durham, ME
8. Sue K. - Groton, CT
9. Tracy R. - Braintree, MA
10. Branwen R. - Waltham, MA
11. Heidi F. - Framingham, MA
12. Eric B. - Cambridge, MA
13. Linda D. - Cambridge, MA
14. Shannon S. - Pelham, NH
15. Laurey B. - Uxbridge, MA
16. Jay E. - Suffield, CT
17. Drusilla K. - New York, NY
18. Matt K. - New York, NY
19. Kelly L. - Manchester, CT
20. Allison L. - Enfield, CT
21. Raquel C. - New York, NY
23. JoAnna L. - Yonkers, NY
24. Emma E. - Columbia, CT
2005 Recap
Saturday - July 23
Well, it's over for another year. In spite of a big (and sad) problem, and
several smaller ones, in the end, with a LOT of help, everything went very
well.
Jessica, who was supposed to be Cathy's co-hostess and who had lots of the
materials we needed with her, had a serious family emergency on Thursday. Of course that meant she could not come to RatFest since she needed to be with her family. We all send our best wishes for a speedy recovery for her grandfather.
As always, friends came to the rescue. Dr. Ann came down as early as she
could on Friday and Jane Adamo changed her plans totally, to get here Friday
night instead of Saturday morning.
Because of a big traffic tie-up, some people coming from New Jersey couldn't make it, so we ended up with 22 people this year. Smaller than we expected and we missed those who didn't make it...but those of us who DID get there, had a great time!
OK, now on to the GOOD stuff...
People arrived bringing TONS of great food. We filled out plates and then
sat on the deck to introduce ourselves. The weather was LOVELY, although it
did get a little bit hot in the mid-afternoon. After we chatted a bit and ate
our fill, we started the games. The Prize Table was FULL of wonderful items
donated by generous rat people from everywhere. We had intended to have a
great Ratrivia Game that Jess designed, however, we had to go to Plan B, so we
had the Ratasaurus Egg Hunt game instead. This game is always fun and gave
us a lot of giggles. Kelly, a newcomer to RatFest, won the Grand Prize --
which was a large canvas bag with a FABULOUS design done by Dru Kehl on it and
it was just full of great rattie stuff.
Next (I think!) we did the Yankee Gift Swap. Once again, it got REALLY
vicious at times and we ended up laughing till we cried. Lydia got a funky
stuffed rat pillow which she LOVED and when Tracy tried to 'steal' it from her,
they had a tug-of-war all the way down the hall! Tracy won, but in the end,
Lydia ended up with her beloved pillow.
Then we did the raffle. The items that were donated for this year's raffle
were awesome. We had a T-shirt designed by Matt, a hand-carved jade rat, a
Netsuke figurine, a lovely necklace designed by Janet, a great bracelet
designed by Kathy T, a pretty embroidered pillow, a fully furnished, large cage
and a really NICE cage donated by Martin's Cages.
Kim's Ark was there with lots of great stuff to buy. I bought another
Wodent Wheel and this one is GREEN and very pretty! I'm sure my rats will
appreciate that it coodinates with the rest of their cage accessories! Kim's
Ark held their own raffle, so there were LOTS of chances to win this year!
We took some time to go shopping -- again we had quite a 'mall' set up along
one side of the deck! There was so much wonderful stuff to buy! This included personalized rat scrapbooks, rat pillow cases, t-shirts, greeting cards, rat art work, treats, food, bedding, toys, hammocks, earrings, magnets... and more!
Next, Melissa did her Demonstration. She talked about several things this
year, including viruses, CHF, mixing meds and How to Give Oral Meds. Her demos
are always fun, interesting and educational. Thank you Melissa!
Jane supplied us with KFC for dinner, plus Italian bread, along with potato
salad and cole slaw from Kim and her friends. Of course, we'd been eating
all day, but it was nice to have something ELSE to munch on!
After dinner we held the Photo Contest. Oh, it gets HARDER every year to
choose the winners! How do you choose 'Cutest' when every single picture makes
you melt? But we did manage to vote and the winners got some very nice prizes.
Sometime along in here Cathy got a WONDERFUL surprise -- a call from Australia!
Ann Morgan called me on the phone. Thanks Ann!
By now it was getting dark and the mosquitos came out. Kim and the Arkettes
had brought a small grill and all the fixings to make S'MORES!! This was an
unexpected and very nice surprise, especially since the smoke from the grill
helped keep the mosquitos away!
Then we capped it all of with our traditional sparklers and fireworks. It's
amazing how nice a fairly inexpensive firework can be! Everyone seems to
really enjoy this part of the day.
It was sad to see everyone leave. Now came the HARDEST part -- finding room
for all the leftover food in my refrigerator! What a challenge! But we
managed...
June, Jane, Ann and I all fell into bed, totally exhausted, but happy that
the day went so well. And RatFest wasn't over yet!
Sunday- July 24
Sunday's weather was even nicer. Ten people were lucky enough to be able to
go to Brunch this year. Our usual place, IHOP, had closed, so we went to a
new restauant, Flannagin's. It was REALLY nice -- great food, nice
atmosphere, good service. As always, we used the procedes from the raffle to
pay for half of the bill, which meant that everyone had a lovely breakfast for only $6 apiece. It was a real treat.
Usually on Sunday we do Rat Crafts, but Jess had all the materials for the
craft with her. We talked about having a story-telling contest, but in the
end we decided to just sit around and visit. We spent the afternoon telling
anecdotes about our rats and other pets. It was a very relaxing, pleasant way
to spend an afternoon.
Things broke up about 3:30 so people could get to their trains and buses.
Despite the usual Sunday afternoon traffic, everyone made it home OK.
Cathy's rats had a wonderful time, of course. Viv even put on a FABULOUS display
of ear buzzing!!! Melissa was scritching Viv's backside, right on the table
and Viv's ears got going so fast we thought she might start flying around
the deck! Later Spark, who was being held and scritched by Eric put on a great display of eye boggling. Viv was used for Melissa's demonstrations and she was particularly glad that the demo was about ORAL meds, not shots! Pepper was VERY popular -- I walked by her cage late on Saturday and she was curled up FAST asleep -- we had just worn her out! Little Bizzy also got her share of attention, as did all the other rats. And lots of treats, too!
This is the fourth year for the NE RatFest and each year has had a 'flavor'
all it's own. The first year was exhilarating and new, the next year we felt
more comfortable with each other and the traditions we've started. The
third year was big and boisterous. This year's RatFest was smaller and more
relaxed, but it was just as wonderful and fun. We missed everyone who couldn't
attend, especially Jess.
Thank you to EVERYONE who helped make RatFest what it is. Special thanks
to Cathy for being an awesome hostess every year and opening her house to all of us RatFesters. Dr. Ann and Jane for coming early and being co-hostesses at the last minute. Thanks to Melissa for another informative and helpful demo. Thanks to ALL you great people who donated items for the raffle and prizes. Thanks to JoAnna who keeps the web site and decorated the wonderful RatFest cake. Thanks to Matt and Dru who generously gave of their artistic talents. Thanks to June, who bought, sold and distributed the RatFest T-shirts. And to everyone else who helps by cleaning the kitchen, replacing the toilet paper rolls, emptying trash and even just by attending -- THANK YOU! RatFest would not be what it is without you!
Contact Cathy for more information.