Buckley’s Story at the National Capital Cat Show

If there’s a better way to spend a weekend than in the company of hundreds of cats and thousands of cat lovers, I don’t know what it is.   Buckley’s Story was a sponsor of the 2010 National Capital Cat Show which took place in Chantilly, VA this past weekend.  I couldn’t have been happier with the whole weekend.  Our booth location was fantastic – right in the center of the show hall, across from the show ring we sponsored.  Another bonus of our locations was my booth neighbor:  cat artist Jamie Perry.  Jamie’s whimsical drawings are absolutely wonderful, and you can’t help but smile when you look at them.  As I got to know Jamie a little bit better over the course of the weekend, it quickly became apparent that we are kindred spirits.  Look for a feature on Jamie and her art on The Conscious Cat soon.

The entire weekend was perfect from start to finish.  I loved introducing Buckley’s Story to new people.  I was honored when people stopped by to tell me they had read the book and how much they loved it.  It was especially fun to meet people in person who I previously only knew as a name from a comment on The Conscious Cat, or from Facebook.  There’s just nothing better than to meet and chat with other cat people.   

The judge in the ring sponsored by Buckley’s Story was exceedingly generous in showing her appreciation, at the end of each final round, she would hold up my book and call me over and thank me for my sponsorship, and all the spectators applauded.  We writers, by our very nature, tend to be solitary creatures, and any “applause” we get tends to come in the form of reviews or e-mails, so I have admit, it was a little bit of a rush to experience this kind of open appreciation!

I didn’t get much of a chance to walk around during the weekend, but I was impressed by the large variety of exhibitors.  There were a lot of rescue groups.  My friends from Fancy Cats Rescue Team were represented, as were many other groups, both large and small.  Vendor booths ranged from cat sitting services such as my friends at Whimsy Cats, who focus on taking care of cats with special needs, to vendors selling anything from cat trees to cat gifts to cat friendly cleaning products.  There were several cat furniture vendors, including a returning favorite, Wade’s Cat Trees.  Wade makes some of the best quality cat furniture I’ve seen.   My favorite cat gift store, The Cat’s Closet, had brought their usual large and tempting selection of wonderful cat gifts.

And of course, there were the cats.  Gorgeous cats, everywhere you looked.  Of course, to me, all cats are beautiful, no matter what their breed, color, or provenance, but I have to say, some of these show cats are positively stunning.  I’m especially partial to Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats – their size, and their incredible markings, just blow me away.  And I even had a feline visitor to my booth – a little Abbysinian who walked around the show hall on a leash.  She was the cutest little thing, so friendly, loved to be petted by everyone, and she was trained to do roll overs and jump through hoops.  I know the cat tree vendors loved her, because she personally liked to check out their wares and give them her Abby stamp of approval!

I couldn’t believe it when Sunday afternoon rolled around and it was time to pack up already – the weekend flew by, and I can’t wait until next year’s show.