Well, the Gathering has come and gone. I think it was a fantastic success. Many of you seem to agree. It was nice to meet some of the people behind the e-mail addresses and e-Bay ID's. Bob & Gretchen were the perfect hosts. It will be a tough act to follow.

Friday was rather informal. We arrived and got situated. Many stopped by Bob & Gretchen's for an advance look at their collection. A large group of us went out to dinner. (Silk City Diner. GREAT food!) We definitely drew some attention from the other diners. Fifteen people wearing Garfield shirts, hats, jewelry, etc... We might have been a little loud too. After dinner it was back to the hotel, where SOME of us tried to get to bed and get some sleep in preparation for Saturday. Then the phone rings. "Tony, it's Deb. There are people over here, selling stuff out of their rooms!" Get dressed and go over for some late night shopping. Pick through what Barb has left behind and socialize in the rooms and hall. Finally to bed for a few hours sleep.

Your hosts, Bob & Gretchen Gipson.

Saturday morning. I THOUGHT that I got up early enough, but when I get to the dealers room someone is already in the spot that I had picked out. I still got a good table and got my stuff set up. It was my first show so I was pretty excited. The doors opened and the flow of people began. It was pretty steady most of the time. I was selling t-shirts to just about everyone and I sold quite alot of my stuff too. Thanks to Barb and her husband Romeo, who watched my table for me, I was able to do some shopping too. By the time the doors closed, we estimate that we had 300 people come through. Most everyone agreed that it was a tremendous success.

Looking over the merchandise.

Saturday afternoon. The cookout at Bob & Gretchen's home. Those who hadn't already, got to see the collection. The food was excellent. Then Garfield arrived. Poor cat hardly got a chance to eat because everyone wanted a picture taken. Lots of socializing and everyone had a great time. Eventually we started to drift off to the hotel. When I left there was still a fair sized group there, discussing collecting in general and Garfield in particular.

Me and a friend.

Sunday morning. A large group of us met for breakfst and then it was off to the flea market. It was a large outdoor one and they had been told that we would be coming. There was alot of stuff to choose from and, as far as I know, there weren't any fistfights. Actually, there was alot of: "Weren't you looking for one of these?" Everyone was very nice. Several of us had lunch together and then had to leave for afternoon flights home. Lots of hugs and goodbyes. Then I flew home.

As I said, a wonderful success. Bob & Gretchen did an awesome job of organizing things. A lot of people who were just Garffriends before are now friends. (An interesting statistic: Easily 99% of those who attended are cat owners.) As I also said before, a tough act to follow. But, I'm going to try. Plans are being made for Garfield Gathering 2000. Watch this site for further details.

GO BACK HOME

E-mail at: garfieldguy@garfieldtradingnetwork.net