Sarah: Oh, boy! Oh, boy! It's coming! It's coming! It's almost here!
Yippee! Everyone dance the happy dance!!

Daisy: Will you calm down! Dance the happy dance for what? What's
coming? What's almost here?

Sarah: Christmas! Yippee! Yahoo! It's almost here!

Daisy: Sarah, will you settle down. It's September. Christmas won't
be here for months yet.

Sarah: No, not the real Christmas, silly! Christmas in October, the
Ferret Farm's annual fundraiser. It's happening this year on Saturday,
October 6th. It starts at 10:00 a.m. and goes on until everyone has
had enough fun, we're all pooped out and napping all over the place!

Daisy: So you're saying that Lakeroad Ferret Rescue/Shelter, Inc.
actually has two Christmas' a year instead of just one.

Sarah: Yup! That's how Shelter Mum has arranged it.

Daisy: What happens at Christmas in October?

Sarah: Oh, that's right! You came to the Shelter in December of 2011
so you missed last year's. Well it starts off with Ferret Playtime and
Meet and Greet from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Then we move on to a fall
cookout lunch at noon. All the humans bring a dish to pass. Then after
lunch we go to the Ferret Matches.

Daisy: What are the Ferret Matches?

Sarah: Only the coolest set of games any ferret could ever what to play
and there are prizes, too! There are two prizes for the best look-alike
pair of ferrets, there's a prize each for Mr. Heavy Weight and Miss
Dainty and Sweet, there's a prize for the Biggest Ears, the Longest
Tail. Then there's the Paper Bag Escape, that's my favorite!

Daisy: How do you play it?

Sarah: Well the ferret goes inside a paper bag and the human rolls up
the paper bag and the first ferret to get out of his/her bag wins the
prize!

Daisy: And is that the end of the day?

Sarah: Oh, no! Not by any means! We're only half done at that point!
At 2:00 p.m. we have the Used Ferret Items Auction and raffle drawings.
At 3:00 p.m., the pièce de résistance -- the event that makes the
whole day worthwhile! Nothing less than the Christmas Exchange, itself!
Everybody gets to play this game. The only thing Shelter Mum asks is
that you bring a NEW ferret item that you would want your furkid to
have. You can wrap the gift if you want or present it unwrapped, either
way. Ms. Wendy took lots of pictures at last year's Christmas in
October. You can check them all out here, Daisy,
<http://www.ferretfarm.org/Christmas_in_October_2011.htm>
and the newsletter Possum wrote up about the whole event. Maybe you
can get some cub reporter training while you're at it.

Daisy: Maybe you could, too! Ha! Ha! Is this open only to people with
furkids?

Sarah: No, it's open to anybody who wants to come, from anywhere at
all, whether they have furkids or not. But just because you don't have
a furkid doesn't mean you have to miss out on the fun of spending the
day with one. Just click <mailto:[log in to unmask]> here to
e-mail Shelter Mum and she can arrange to match you up with a furkid
of your own for the event.

Daisy: Boy! How cool would that be?! You know if a human and a ferret
got matched up for Christmas in October and then ended up bonding over
the course of the day, it might lead to a 4-ever home for some lucky
ferret.

Sarah: Well that's the ultimate purpose behind everything that Shelter
Mum does for us here at Lakeroad. It's all about finding good, loving
homes for all us furkids. We are all happy and loved by Shelter Mum
and all her helpers here at the farm but gosh, nothing beats having a
4-ever home and a family of humans to call your own. That'd be the best
Christmas present a furkid could get any time of the year.

www.ferretfarm.org

[Posted in FML 7544]