What an incredible weekend! A wonderful outpouring of energy, hard work, friendships forged, similarities shared and lots and lots got done. We had about 10 people each day, some of hours and a couple for both days. It's amazing how much we got done. No pictures now - waiting for the before and after but here's a glimpse of the weekend's events.
The first to arrive at about 9:30am were Chuck and three students from Lane Tech. They came for Ellen's Winnebago. It's going to be a Lane Tech student project! Unfortunately, Ellen doesn't get it back all spruced up and road ready ..... but it's going to a good place for it's new life. In trade for the Winnie, Chuck and the boys (sorry guys, I don't remember all your names), moved all the lumber and limestone tiles for the cat houses from the driveway to their new home. They did a great job. Remember Chuck, I want a photo of the finished product!
Candy then Christina arrived next and started working on getting the crates ready for kitties. Clean, sanitize, then attach 1" fencing so the kits don't get out of the bars. Linda started when Candy left and she and Christina did a great job finishing 4 crates. Good thing. A mama and a 6 week old kitten arrived the next day and now occupies one of them. Thank You Candy, Christina & Linda!!! Nice to have a
fail safe place for the kitties!
Can't remember the time frame of who came next but suddenly there were people taking on projects and getting things done. It was great, everyone worked
independently and as teams. Some had met before, some not.
Sue, holy mackeral, Sue is a powerhouse; she took charge of the back porch project. She started about 11am and worked until 9pm. Then came back the next day and worked another 6-7 hours. She took on the project with relish. The porch was cleared, walls and ceilings were vacummed, primered and painted. Janet joined in on Sunday adding her flair to trim. It was fun picking colors from all the donated paint. Barbara brought 2 of the kids from Maywood Youth Mentoring, Darrian & Kquanis joined in the clearing, cleaning and vaccumig. Barbara brought food too. Elaine had the worst job of the day, rolling paint on an extension from a ladder in a stairwell on a wall with paint peeling off on the roller. Sorry Elaine, I know how frustrating that was - still haven't figured it out but I think the trick is in the sealant too. Ah, there's always mulch (last year, Elaine helped move a huge pile of mulch)! The room looks fabulous. I laid the vinyl today. It's amazing how well it goes with the multi-color room colors. All the paint was donated by Karen, Georgia & Ellen .
Jeanne & Linda preped a piece porch furniture for paint. Jeanne painted it a beautiful shade of green. T painted an old enamel topped cabinet the same green then went on to paint an old metal cabinet in 'camoflage' - it looks so cool.
The Cat Man came and lent a lot of great tools and painting supplies and helped Kquanis and Darrian tighten the aftercare rack, then K & D primered it.
Sheila (who held a kitty for the first time in her long life heald a CatVando kitten last fall and loved it. Quite the cat woman now, since falling in love and sharing gleeful stories about her 2 yard cats) She ripped sheets for traps - we use a lot when trapping. We get sheets donated by Animal Care League and sometimes CatNap from the Heart and they need to be torn by the dozens. Eric did sheets for awhile and even Kelly took a turn with them.
Darrian came back Sunday and was a tremendous help filling in wherever he was needed whether it was playing with Bella or bringing things and messages from room to room or filing in on a project or helping lift. He made lunch! The first meal he ever prepared. We had beans with cheese, salsa, cilantro and sour cream and he put it together. It was excellent!
Kim brought delicious roll ups on Saturday and worked for a couple of hours. Her huge contribution was during Pre-Spruce Up, Spruce Up. Kim is wonderful - not only incredible with the critters (Bella loves her so much her eyes almost drool) but she understands the complexities of running CatVando out of a home and is always there doing things I ask and doing things she sees need doing. She was back on Tuesday, played with the critters, vacummed and straightened. She's definately one of the spirits of CatVando.
I, Ellen, worked here and there, painted a bit on both porches, worked projects, answered questions, took pictures, even painted with Sue until 9pm, and took wonder in the events and changes. It was pretty great.
Thank you all for being here, for taking time, for working so hard and so communially. BRAVO!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, You ALL ARE GOING SAILING! Watch for dates and times to pick from.
And... the Spruce Up continues. CatVando is expanding at a rapid rate. Cat populations are expanding at an alarming rate. Because of the economy, cats are being abandoned at increased rates, most unsteralized rapidly adding to the already high numbers. Some communities are more saturated than ever but all communities are experiencing an increase. Education is becoming almost equally as important as TNR with the community, the feeders and municipalities. TNR is at it's best when it's community-based, when everyone's on board and understands it's effectiveness and how the whole thing works. At this point, there's a lot of misinformation that needs to be clarified. So........ we're busy with more than TNR & Kitties & Adoptions these days. We're dealing directly with municipalities and you know how much red tape that can involve! Plus, our wonderful VA Hines Project.
The Spruce Up Continues!!!!
Sundays May 3, 10th (Mothers Day), and 24th
11am - 5ish
Lunch at 1pm
Bring friends
Join us for a couple hours or a couple Sundays
just email or call
708 829 6013
Love to All
Blackie Willow
