B O N N I E DOES THE C O N V E N T I O N 12 - 16 March 1999

Bonnie's Convention Report

Editor's Note The BLUE underlined words are LINKS to PICS -- you have to click them to see the photos. In my update I have made the linked photos pop up on a new page for convenience, and did a couple cosmetic changes -- the text remains as it was written in mid-March of 1999. You will see many familiar names and faces in Bonnie's report, done at the height of the Beanie craze. It was one of the real landmarks of those wonderful years -- enjoy! I know I really did! NB - due to the ever-changing Internet, links to other sites may no longer still be valid, and they may have simply disappeared. [Sonny]

I was thrilled to travel to Baltimore to see all of of my Attic and Beanie friends, and to finally meet many of the Attics & Beans Newsgroup. Sonny drove over from Trenton on Friday afternoon with Sluggy (Denise), who offered him a part of her critter adoption table, which was VERY nice of her!

 

On the road we stopped at ALL the Cracker Barrels we could find-- this was Sonny's FIRST time at a Cracker Barrel and he thought they smelled nice. He found a pair of cute large plush bunnies with colorful sweaters. They also stopped at a A&W Root Beer place where he found some of my cute A&W Root Bear pals.

 

He had a light LATE dinner at the Marriott Hotel's Champions Sports Bar, with Sluggy, my best friend Karen and Roberta. Sonny really laughed a lot, which is VERY unusual for him!!

 

He was dead tired from being up all night Thursday getting the finishing touches together for the goodies he would take.

 

So he fell sound asleep once he got there! I was VERY tired too, so I curled up just like his cats and dozed off.

Cody came with me as a bodyguard in case that nasty Tyrone would keep bothering me, and he said I should really sleep further up near Sonny's face.

 

I had breakfast with Sluggy and Sonny. GAWD, you should see him eat! He holds the knife and fork in the wrong hand, but he says it is how you are supposed to do it!

 

After breakfast I went in to the packed Convention room and met a lot of the people I only knew from online.

 

Karen, who made my great travel web pages. Sluggy showed some party hats to Sue C. and her daughter Nikki, at her gathering of a lot of my Beanie Buddies and Attic friends.

 

Sonny even brought the two teddy bears he found in Spain last January, and many of his Celebrity Bear pals. At his table he gave out hundreds of puzzle cards for FREE -- many people took several because they said they had never seen them! He also had two nice photocopied price lists of the critters he had up for adoption -- he is SOOOOOO organized!! Seems as if nobody noticed his NANA though, and it was awfully cheap!! He had sort of rare critters such as the dinosaur trio, Maple Pride, Caw, Slither, Trap and Web also.

 

Cindy was there with her hubby, Wayne. Linda liked my friend Fuzzy. Beja seemed to enjoy meeting the 1992 Limited Edition Collectible Bear. The 1991 and 1992 Bears.

 

George liked Sonny's old bear and his mom (Sandy), dad (George, Sr.), sisters (Samantha) and (Cassie), holding her very own Cassie signed by Nola Hart AND Ruth Fraser!

 

Ruth Fraser showed Sonny her latest creation, Leona, who now lives with his Sphynx and Siamese kittys, and Ruth's other signed Attic designs.

 

My bestest pal Bluebeary even flew in from Sonny's place in Tenerife to be with me. Beverly Gough , the Founder of the Carol Jean Cancer Foundation, with one of the Board Members, Sluggy, Karen and Sonny were on hand for our kewl reunion after so many months!

 

Daniel and Brenda just had to greet me also. Michael, Jane, Chris and his pal Jake, and Linda were there.

 

And I finally met Lucy, always bubbling over with enthusiasm, her grandmother, and Rosemary.

 

A highlight of the evening was just before the mud wrestling main event, and the two main contenders showed they were good sports. They even showed us their SUMO stances before the bets were placed on the pay-per-view main event.

 

I was also VERY excited to meet so many great names in the Attic and Beanie family.

 

The original model for Isabella -- Peggy Gallagher and her hubby, who gave the most animated talk on how to tell fake Beanies from the real thing. Brian, the powerhouse head of Wallos.

 

Saturday night some of the members of the Attics and Beans Newsgroup took the hotel shuttle to

in Linthicum, Maryland, not too far from the hotel. Sonny, as usual, had to find some place on the crowded bus and squeezed into the luggage rack! He also served the champagne and red wine to Brenda, Mary, Rosemary, Cathy, Dorothy, and the other guests of the Attics and Beans Newsgroup. Sonny also ordered a LARGE plate of mussels in yummy tomato sauce and shared them with those who wanted some (that's why I LOVE him so much, he is always open and sharing with everyone!). The fine food and animated conversation was enjoyed by all! Sonny had the best crab cakes he ever ate!

 

It seems as if the New Jersey State Troopers have had some notoriety lately about what they call "profiling" on random vehicle searches. It seems to work a tad differently in Maryland! Just to see a different way of doing things was refreshing!! Everybody spread against the bus please!!

 

That same night, after posting bail at the local precinct, some of the members gathered in Mary Lou Sherrer's, the first of the three authors of The Attic Treasure Trove, the first book ever published about me and my pals, room for an unscheduled "room hopping". I must have confused the term for those open doors at the YMCA, BUT quickly learned that they meant something totally different! It was a chance to get to know some of my oldest and rarest Attic friends. Sonny was able to adopt some variations of critters he already has. SMOOCHES to Mary Lou!!

 

Sunday morning it started snowing and many people left early, just in case the roads got really bad. I said goodbye to my many new friends, and after Sonny and Sluggy had a snack at the Champions Sports Bar, they headed off back to Trenton. There was a lot of snow on the roads, and the trip took way longer than when they came to the Convention.

 

When they arrived in Trenton, Sonny discovered that the heat was NOT working, probably for a couple days. After checking the gas furnace, it seems as if the thermocouple may be shot, and he called several places to see if they would come over to get the heat back on!! The temperature is 49 degrees, and all my feathers are all goose bumpy!!

 

So what did I think of the First Annual Ty Collectibles Convention?

 

It was great fun at a very nice hotel -- and nicely organized. There were so many adoption tables set up, and I never saw so many of my Attic pals and even the new Beanies in one place before!!

 

I met so many new friends, and some of them were totally different than I imagined them from their emails on the Attics and Beans Newsgroup.

 

Sonny even checked MaryCat's feet for cloven hooves and ruffled her hair to see if there were hidden horns -- BUT he didn't find anything unusual though.

 

He met Becky Phillips and Becky Estensoro, the publishers of Beanie Mania Magazine, who autographed the latest issue for him -- he even found a new article by his old buddy, Jonathan, in Canada!!

 

Ruth Fraser impressed him as an extremely knowledgeable, down-to-Earth person, and she also dedicated and signed the article about her in the same issue, as well as some of her creations.

 

He also schmoosed with representatives from Planet Plush, eBay, and several private collectors -- I don't usually see him this friendly, outgoing and fun loving -- he is always so serious!!

 

Unfortunately Sonny did not have a lot of pics on his digital camera (a Kodak DC 50) and missed taking MANY photos of notable events/people.

 

Rich had a kewl table with Unusual Attic Rare Finds, and what I thought was a coffee maker -- gigantic -- just what I need at home. It turned out to be a machine to inflate balloons and put LARGE things in them while still inflated! It was unbelievable!! And he made his own really beautiful ornate classical wooden showcase -- wish I were that creative!

 

Saw many bears made at the Sally Winey classes -- and they were VERY creative. I only wish I would have had the time to do the class also! Lucy did a great one, and as always she was just gushing all over the place! Her enthusiasm is kewl-- and catching!!

 

He even signed autographs for several people, and, despite his usual humorous remarks about "selling" smooches, he actually gave away many without asking for his usual donation!

Many people saw his kewl Attics and Beans Newsgroup name tag and said he was their all time favorite online acquaintance, and that they were happy to have met him, finally, in person. I even think MaryCat checked out ALL of his appendages thoroughly to see if he was really Sybil in disguise!!

 

Now he has to get my Convention report on his site and check the pile of emails received during his absence -- and he is MUY tired and freezing COLD -- yet VERY happy!! He will always remember this fantastic Convention in a positive way.

 

Sluggy was stuck at Sonny's place overnight due to the snow, which continued falling. She slept, warmed by his SCUD kittys, while Sonny was nice enough to help me get my trip report online to the list as soon as possible. He had to wear his winter jacket and knit cap due to the almost freezing temperature in the house. He called many "heating specialists", including PSE&G, who said they could be there Tuesday before noon!! I would have been more frozen than my Perdue cousins by then!!

 

At 7am a guy finally did arrive (it was 47 degrees inside!) and had to change the entire valve and thermocouple assembly on the gas furnace -- at a whopping $477 -- way more than Sonny sold at the Convention!! This will set him and his underfed kittys back a while, unfortunately!

 

Just when the heat returned, Sluggy left for home, arriving safely. All's well that ends well!

 

I got loads of nice comments on my Convention report. They will be included in Sonny's private GUESTBOOK.

Your friend Bonnie.

P/S : If you would like to join the Attics and Beans Newsgroup, click on LIST. It's FREE and loads of fun! Tell them Bonnie sent you!

For Other Kewl Convention News Go To

KAREN'S -- may no longer be online

TY-ING ONE ON IN BALTIMORE -- Sluggy-Bonnie report

Meson D'Ours -- may no longer be online

Bonnie's Trip to Tenerife -- Bonnie's earlier journey - 1998

Bonnie visits pals -- another Bonnie adventure - 1999

Bonnie loves the islands -- meeting Bonnie again in Tenerife - 2002

My Items on -- -- eBay My Stuff on -- -- Yahoo USA My Treasures on -- -- Yahoo Canada My Closeout Deals & Real Estate -->> Personal Sales My Cigars & Goodies on -->> YardSaleNet.net

Daily  Trivia Contests

This page was updated with the able assistance of an Apple G5 iMac - the Perfect Home / Office Computer! PageMill and the PageMill logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated

Free counters provided by Andale.

COPYRIGHT © 1999 - 2007 My Other Domains by La Atlántida Web Design. All rights reserved.due to the constantly changing nature of the Internet, some external links may no longer be valid Privacy Policy