I just want to thank MAFF for a GREAT Halloween event! My boyfriend and I attended together, along with Renee. We had the privilege of meeting Donna of the Educated Ferret the night before and seeing the WONDERFUL baked goods she had made for the event. She made a beautiful two layer wedding cake with handmade ferret bride and groom as a topper ... and a TON of baked goods including zucchini bread, cookies and cakes of all sorts! The day of the frolic, Lynn Barker in Texas helped us to figure out how to get there (hehehehehe.. don't ask!), and we arrived at the event in suburban Massachusetts on a BEAUTIFUL, sunny fall day. (It was so warm.. you could almost have worn shorts!) The hall was beautiful and the setup was great! Phyllis had put together a lovely PowerPoint presentation celebrating ferrets and their owners which opened the event. (She had done a lovely Rainbow Bridge tribute PowerPoint presentation which played at the end of the show as well!) The events were outstanding ... a very talented member had made a wonderful ferret maze out of dryer tubes, a large Rubbermaid box with dividers and a ferret playpen .. it was awesome! Some of the ferrets made it ALMOST to the end of the maze .. and then turned around and ran straight back to the finish! So, there was the maze event, and the tube race, ferret bowling, costume contest (Donna had made a WONDERFUL bridal gown for her ferret and the other winners were a lovable "sailor" ferret and a beautiful "witch" ferret!) There was a HUGE ferret playland on stage, complete with tubes with "peepholes" running up and down the walls! Noah was crowned the MAFF ferret for 2005 and was very gracious through his coronation ceremony (complete with robe and crown!). Renee and Donna dressed as Bear Ferretwise in a wonderful, full-size costume with a huge ferret tail .. they were adorable! The food court was GREAT ... lots of selections, and lots of baked goods and treats! The Ferret Fairy did a WONDERFUL job of assisting everything all day, and I admired Bob Church and Phyllis for their great work keeping things flowing smoothly and relatively on time. The vendors had wonderful items .. I bought some beautiful "Euro" type stickers (the oval ones) for my car .. one says "Dook" and the other has a ferret silhouette from Stephanie. Ferretwise has some BEAUTIFUL handmade mugs with ferrets as handles (leaning over the edge and looking over the top of the cup!) and matching spillproof ferret bowls! There was a ferret photographer and a vendor who made beautiful ferret playtowers, a vendor with WONDERFUL handmade ferret figurines (including a Bob Church figurine in Hawaiian shirt), and The Ferret Store had a selection of ferret food samples. I particularly want to thank those who donated auction items. I felt very lucky to win three of the Chinese auction items and I LOVE them!!! I appreciate your generoisty, without which I wouldn't have these lovely items for my ferrets to enjoy! :-> Thank you to EVERYONE .. I loved it! Next year, I hope to make it back for the MAFF Renaissance Ferret Faire in October! :-> - Ela (000)___(000) Ela Heyn / @ @ \ [log in to unmask] | | ======@====== http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/5483 [Posted in FML issue 5048]