Whew! Chere, I know what you mean! Just got back from the Chicagoland Pet Show, a two-day event at Arlington International Racecourse. It featured a CFA Cat show (Mammoth proportions there) a household pet show (generic varieties) and humdreds of booths peopled by various pet-oriented concerns. The Greater Chicago Ferret Association was there both days and made hundreds of ferret contacts. Private citizens, Vets and Pet shops that never knew we (or any other ferret clubs) existed went home with as much ferret info as we could stuff into their 'booty bags'. Everyone who said they were owned by a ferret went home with a Census form. (I brought 500 copies to the show. At 2pm Sunday, there were only about 50 left!) Made contact with a few pet magazine publishers about the census and ferret articles in general. A totaly positive feedback sort of day. People who had misconceptions about the furries went home with a new understanding of them. So far, we have 16 states (AZ, CT, FL, GA, IL, IN, MD, MI, (YES, MICHIGAN!) NH, NM, NY, OH, PA, TX, WI & VA) responding to or requesting the forms. Thanks, to all the volunteers who are helping get the word out. We could still use help in these and other states to get a more representative slice of the ferret world. Please... if you can help, send me e-mail with your snali mail address and I'll send you a starter kit. This contains: five (5) copies of the census form, one Master set of the form suitable for copying, a window sign for announcing the availability of the forms (for use in pet stores, veterinarians offices ar wherever) a starter set of ten (10) press releases for sending to the local news services, an NDF Census Project sign (for displaying at a table in the mall (this is working well here) and an NDF Census Project Button to arrouse curiosity with. If you're already helping with this effort, thanks. If you need masters of any of the above (the button is a new addition) please request them withh your snail mail address. Other news. FERRET FORUM, the fidonet Echo I started six years ago, is finally on the Fidonet Echolist. This means we'll soon be a national echo, accessible to any Fidonet BBS in the world. We've been getting requests for the echo in other states and two are from FFZ's. FML continues to be the TOP RATED online publication for ferret folk. Keep up the good work, Chris. That's it from the windy city... Hug a ferret! Roger, Cinnamon Bear, Megabyte, Tribble, Heidi, Sneakers and Black Magic. (IFNS) -- Routed via the Great Lakes FidoNet Gateway Indianapolis, USA [royaljok.fidonet.org] [Posted in FML issue 0443]