Hi All, glad I'm typing this instead of talking to anyone. My voice is gone. To update all you non-Mass residents, House Bill 295, the Ferret Bill which will make the ownership of the ferret legal here in MA was amended last week. The Senator who amended the bill, Senator Durand, was under the impression that the bill was amended before leaving his committee, the Senate Ways and Means Committee. He caught the error right after it passed the Senate and was on its way back to the House for a final enactment. It was at this time we were informed that the "Parchment" paper was ordered for the bill and it would be on the Governors desk by midnight Wed 11/15. I called the Senate Clerks office first thing on Wed morning just to make sure my answering machine got the wrong message. She informed me that it was true. Approximately 30 mintues later was when Sen. Durand caught the error and amended the bill. The Mass legislature ended their session at midnight Wed night. We all waited up until 12 midnight (I watched it on local station). Unfortunately, our bill which has gone back to the house for an enactment was not read. I was informed that the Legislature would not meet in formal sessions till after the first of the year but would be meeting informally until then. Tomorrow, Monday Nov 20, the House will be meeting informally and we are hoping our bill will get read. We just happened to have a booth at the Boston Pet Expo this weekend and it was a HUGE SUCCESS. We had our petition there and managed to gather 669 signatures on Saturday and 732 signatures on Sunday. With the 516 signatures I have, that makes a total of 1,917. With still two places left to hand them in I do hope we get at least 2,000 signatures!!!!! I will ask Rep. Jones if he wants to hand it to the Governor himself this week and at least something with the word "FERRET" will be on the Governors desk. We're hoping that the BILL will be on his desk instead. Millions of thanks to all of you who worked the booth this weekend, I know we WILL make an impact tomorrow morning with the Reps and Sens. We did a lot of "ferret awareness" which I know helped a lot of the public to understand the law and our delimma. It is amazing to me how many people signing the petition said they either had a ferret, own one now or know someone who has one. I would say at least 90% of the people I talked with said this. Joan B. got lucky and struck it rich. She got interviewed by a woman from WGBH (Channel 2). Way to go Joan! We met the photographer that Mary from Modern Ferret uses. He had a booth there. Also, there was a woman, Michelle's Minagerie, who had two fuzzies there. She is licensed to own them for education. I have caught her show on local cable access. She got real "educated" by us. Gave her all of our literature on ferrets plus phone numbers and resources for her to use. Hopefully, next years Pet Expo will be a bit easier for us. I hope we won't have petitions for people to sign, but instead, be legal once and for all. That way there, we can do education and ferret awareness. Again, thanks to: Lee - giving up 3 nights, thanks for setting us up and breaking us down, also for writing all those numbers. Made today much easier!!!! Geri - for holding the torch all those previous years - you have plenty of help now!!! Tricia & Joe - for coming both days, providing your expertise, HOWS THE FOOTBALL GAME TRICIA? Answering some tough questions people had. Joe, thanks for "watching the table". Bill W. - What can I say Bill, the guy who at 4AM this morning was making photo copies for us. Thanks so much for both days. Hope Susie is happy she has you back. Mason - For sharing his expertise (hope I'm spelling expertise right), hope we never have to meet at another Counties Committee again and instead the next time we meet is at our own first Ferret Awareness day. Dick and Joan B. - Wow, you guys are fantastic, got me out of a couple of jams answering some great questions, Dick had a beautiful sand cast of a ferrret, stood out by the front of the booth, drew a lot of attention. Had me do a couple of double takes! Joan, hope your feet feel okay. Thanks for both days. Joe and Ed - Thanks for coming and helping with the petition! Jo I hope your "writers" cramp goes away. Ed, thanks for stalking the crowd for us. Bill S. - Glad you came so we could meet you! Again thanks for the signatures you gathered. Paul Z - Give Sen. Tisei another chance, I think after tomorrow it WILL be important to him - thanks Paul you did a great job getting those signatures!!! Jennifer L - Hope to see you again soon. Thanks for helping with the petition and taking over for Jo. I hope all those people WILL call their Reps and Sens tomorrow. Ronnie - your banner was beautiful. Will definately send the picture we took to the California people. I know it was a last minute thing for you to do, but it looked great!!!! Thanks to you too for your help with getting those needed signatures. Jan - If it wasn't for your tables, we would have had a BIG problem. Thanks Jan again for letting us use them. I hope I didn't leave anyone out, if I did, sorry, its been a busy weekend and I'm tired. WIll keep you all posted as to what happens next. Sharon Burbine, Mass Friends Group [Posted in FML issue 1384]