Well!  I spent Sunday at the Chicagoland Family Pet Show at Arlington
International Race Course in Illinois.  There was no judging of ferrets
(other than some fun matches on Saturday).  Both GCFA and FAIR had booths
at the show...both had members who brought ferrets to help educate the
public about our favorite fur kids.  It was a great time!
 
I took White Russian with me to help educate people about ferrets.  I knew
Russian would be a hit, but I was not at all prepared for all the attention
and "adoration" he received...each and every person who got near him fell
*head over heels* in love.  Most common comments were "Wow!  That is the
most gorgeous ferret I've ever seen!" and "Oh, my!  Will you look at that
face!" When I walked around with him, we literally "stopped traffic" in the
aisles!  (BTW, if anyone would like to see a picture of me and Russian,
please e-mail me in private...I have a really cute one scanned - *I* look
silly, but it's a good picture of him!).  Several other members of the
shelter also had ferrets there.  Each and every one was just as cute, sweet
and docile as we could hope for.  Some of those little girls were just
beautiful!  It was very obvious that many, many people's opinions were
changed in regards to just what ferrets are!  GOOD JOB to all of the
volunteers!  And a particular THANK YOU to Deb Vittaco, President of GCFA,
who put hours and hours of work into this show.  Poor lady was literally
ready to *collapse* long before it was over, but it wouldn't have been the
success it was without her
 
Anyway, I also met a few people from online that I've spoken with (Hi,
Lisette!...it was so nice to meet you in person!)
 
Derrick and Amy Flemming...THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  I am eternally grateful
to you for your trust in placing this wonderful, sweet boy in my care.
There were a lot of children at the show who asked to pet him, as well as
adults...he was just as sweet as he could possibly be.  White Russian is
extremely good at dispelling some of the more common, and damaging, myths
about ferrets, i.e. they're vicious, mean, biters, hyper, rodents, etc.
Hundreds of people saw him and not one had anything negative to say.  What
was White Russian's response to all this attention?  After a few hours, he
yawned, stretched and fell asleep in my arms. :)
 
Judy
[Posted in FML issue 2623]