And the Show Begins!

People began arriving at 8:00 to get set up, shop at the sales tables, and gab. Everyone was ready to go by 9:00, so the show began on time. (I was worried about the timing and having the show run late into the evening.)

Craig took a picture of all of us before we began. Left to right are Allison Pareis, Pat Reed, me, Yvonne Rott, Jamie Rott, Steff Bodamer, Michelle Evans, and Liz Cory.

 It may have been just a small fun show but the competition was every bit as stiff as what you would find at a NAN qualifying show!

 These two Indian Ponies in their original presentation boxes are incredible!

But the focus of the show was fun, and we had plenty of that. Especially chatting and laughing!

I think having two rings was a good idea - I could judge a class while another was being loaded in the other ring.

I borrowed Craig's office chair because it has wheels and I could sit down as I judged. (Judging the first class, Foals, here while Pat Reed looks on.)

Yvonne Rott helps out at every Great Lakes Congress, but this was her first live show as a competitor. 

She was absolutely thrilled when her honey bay no-muscle Clydesdale won the Clydesdale class! (And the rest of us were thrilled right along with her.)

 Yvonne's black dapple Beligan went on to win the Belgian/Shire class, too!

Here's a look at the showers and what they brought to show.

Pat Reed from Beech Grove, Indiana and I have been friends since the early 1990s. She put on IndyCon for twenty-six years!

 Michelle Evans, another friend of nearly thirty years. She lives in Indianapolis.

Jamie Rott puts on six to eight Great Lakes Congress shows every year and is from Byron, Illinois. Jamie lives close to Nancy Falzone, and she and her mama, Yvonne, check in with Nancy frequently.

Yvonne Rott hails from Spring Green, Wisconsin. She brought me some YUMMY fresh Wisconsin cheese!

 Steff Bodamer is another Wisconsinite and drove down from Kenosha for the show. She had the most beautiful chalky Fighting Stallion I have ever seen!

Allison Pareis is a fellow Hoosier and came over from Muncie. She adores chalkies and brought a bunch for us to see.

Longtime hobbyist and former JAH editor, Liz Isham Cory, is from Huntley, Illinois. She heads up Great Lakes Congress, and puts all those shown on with Jamie.

We took a mid-morning break and I gave out a tongue in cheek pop quiz of Breyer trivia.

 I took almost all the questions from Nancy Young's 1997 book, and the questions ranged from easy to challenging.

 The winner was Jamie!

The show resumed after our little break and we went until lunch time before stopping again.

Red velvet, chocolate, and white cupcakes with buttercream frosting for dessert.

Next up? Pictures from the classes.

Ready to Go!

And the Happy Trails show is ready to go!

I found this fun cut-out horse at Oriental Traders. Originally I thought we would use it for a game, but I decided it was the perfect door decoration. (And marker to make my home easier to find.)

 Things have been shifted around in the dining room to accommodate showers.

 One show ring is the kitchen table.

 The ribbons are sorted and on it.

The kitchen island is the other ring. I spray painted a Running Stallion copper and will have everyone sign it as a memento for me.

 Liz Cory is bringing giant muffins for breakfast and we will order pizza for lunch, so things are ready for that.

 My judging clipboard and reference material are on one of the kitchen counters.

 Swag bags, the show bill, prizes, gifts, and a soon-to-be filled cupcake stand are ready!

I have cleared space in the living room, too, to make space for showers. (The upstairs is for sales - I'll take photos of that after everyone has arrived and set out their wares.)

 And the rosettes and medallions are hanging and ready to be awarded.

I have about an hour before people arrive - I cannot wait!

More Pony Party Prep

I cleared my schedule this whole week to get my home ready for the show, never really thinking I would need all that time. Wow, I am so glad I did. I have needed every minute to pull things together, even though I did a lot of preparation in the months before this week.

(Kathy Bateman, if you are reading this, I sure miss my buddy from the years when we put on Lincoln Land Live! And not just because of the prep - it's just not as fun getting ready without you here to laugh and work with!)

Last night I sat down and made a long list of all the things that I still needed to do in the two days before the show. These included not only the usual show holder's prep, but also cleaning the house, weeding the flowerbeds, and rearranging furniture. Plus, a pair of barn swallows mistook my home for a barn (perhaps I bring the odor home on my clothes after visiting Abby?) and are raising FIVE baby swallows. Right over the front door. And let's just say they are a bit messy. (I was out there this morning scrubbing that off.)

The upstairs family room where sales and trading items will be set up. My sales stuff is already out.

Then, last night Cole, our youngest son called, and he has to make a run from his home in Tennessee up to Michigan to pick up a new car today and tomorrow. He asked if he could sleep here tonight and Friday night. Luckily we have two spare bedrooms, and even luckier I had just cleaned both - one for the party (it will be used if needed as the second sales and trading room) and the other just because I was doing the first!

The spare bedroom that will be used to house more sale and trade items.

Cole used to attend model shows with me when he was younger, so he understands them very well and it won't bother him. But, he may have trouble eating breakfast Saturday morning because the two show rings will be in the kitchen and we are setting up at 8:00 AM!

 At the moment, the dining room is ground zero for the actual preparation for the show.

Ribbons and awards, the games, and a donation to give Liz Cory for future Great Lake Congress shows are ready to go.

An Arabian doll and saddle set made by the mother and daughter team of Kim and Lenore Jacobs are part of my donation. I got it in the 1990s but just don't show performance so it is time to pass it on.

 Reference material is ready for me to use in case I need it while judging.

 And I spent time this afternoon putting together the swag bags for all those in attendance.

The tub where I stored all the show things is relatively empty, but there are still some things in it that I will pull out tomorrow when I do my final prep.

I began working this morning at 6:00 AM and am wrapping up now at 3:30. I am exhausted!

Gifts for the Exhibitors

Many people make medallions or customize, paint, or glaze a model for gifts or awards at their shows. Me? Uh, emphatically NO.

It is common knowledge in my classroom that Mrs. I. cannot draw anything besides stick figures, mermaids, and horses, so at times we would all have a good laugh at the lesson illustrations that I drew while teaching. (One or twice I asked a talented student to come draw what I was talking about. Was that fun! And far better that what I could put on the board!)

But I can follow instructions, and so I decided to make each entrant something by which to remember the show, something I did for my family for Christmas a few years ago using scenes from their favorite holiday movies.

This time, I asked each person who was coming to either send me a photo of their favorite vintage Breyer or to tell me what it was so that I could pull one from Google Images.

Step one was to resize and then print those photos and cut them out. Step two was to affix them to ceramic tiles. Steps three and four will have to wait until these have set for 24 hours.

More on the making of the gifts tomorrow!

Pony Party Prep

My retirement pony party, Happy Trails, is next Saturday, less than one week away! I am "bookending" my school career with small live horse shows - the first were back when I was an elementary student in the 1960s and my friends and I would pack up our Breyers in brown paper grocery bags, sling them over the handlebars of our bikes, and pedal to each others' homes for horse shows.

Those were so much fun - we made tiny paper ribbons, rudimentary tack, embroidered coolers, and created obstacles out of Lincoln Logs and Dixie cups. The classes were all performance - no halter classes at all. (We actually galloped our models by hand around barrels and timed them for barrel racing classes!)

So, since I have been playing ponies since my earliest school days, I decided in March to end my school days with a small, fun horse show. Models will be carefully packed in tubs instead of thrown into grocery sacks, but the premise is the same - good friends getting together with their models and having fun. (Go here to read more about the show itself.)

This week will be a busy one as I am still packing up my classroom on top of prepping for Happy Trails. But I have things planned for each day and am in good shape, despite the many things I need to do.

Right now, I am working on ribbons.

I've been live (and photo) showing for decades, and personally I prefer real ribbons to sixth place, so that's what I am giving out at my show.

Most are recycled ribbons that I have won, but I did purchase some inexpensive bags of generic ribbons from Hodge's, too.

Today I will finish the ribbon sorting and then begin working on a surprise gift I am making those who are coming.

The Clinky Mayhem Purchase Reveal

Did you guess right? They're Metlox Drafters!

They were listed as circus ponies, and that is what initially caught my eye.

I was expecting this piece (which is highly sought after) when they were first listed as "Metlox Circus Ponies." But pictures added later to the sales pages showed that they were something different. (That piece is so rare that even Karen Grimm, who had 10,000 plus pieces in her collection, did not have one.)

I have seen this piece in pictures before, and that is definitely a circus rider on the Metlox drafter, so perhaps they truly are circus horses.

 My first new piece has a repaired broken leg, but I still wanted him.

 The grey is in mint condition and cost more than twice what the two palominos did.

The hooves are oddly painted on all three pieces - it's like they are unfinished at the ends of the hooves.

 The other palomino is also mint and has a silver Metlox sticker under its belly.

I am so excited about my newest purchases - thank you, Teresa!

My Clinky Mayhem Box!

Clinky Mayhem was held the first weekend in May and its main function was to sell off the chinas (i.e. "clinkies") from Karen Grimm's vast collection. I couldn't go, but my friend, Teresa Rogers who was going, agreed to be my proxy buyer.

I was in no hurry to get my pieces and Teresa was heavily involved with her duties for Clinky Mayhem, so, after checking with me to be sure I really was okay with a delay, Teresa took a week or so to catch her breath after the sale before packing up my horses and sending them to me.

The big box arrived over a week ago, but I was busy with end of school duties coupled with retirement activities so I had no time to open it. Then, my entire family (all six kids, their spouses, and our thirteen grandchildren, eight of whom are four and under) arrived for Memorial Day weekend for a family retirement party - there was no way I wanted to open that box with all those little ones around!

Besides, when I did, I really wanted to take my time and enjoy the process of unwrapping my new horses. So, the box has been sitting on the floor of my bedroom for about ten days, awaiting my attention.

I could not have had a better proxy buyer than Teresa. She was so careful in her handling and packing of my new pieces. Inside the big box were individual boxes, each of which was marked with how the model was oriented within (head, tail, hooves, and a big arrow indicating the top.)

 The pieces themselves were mummified in toilet paper and then encased in foam and bubble wrap.

It took me a while to unwrap each beauty, and each one arrived in pristine condition as a result of Teresa's careful packing.

Any idea what my new pieces are? Hint - they're not Hagen Renakers. I'll unveil their identities in my next post.