Only 2 days till Cecil’s Uncle’s Crazy Tavern!!! YAY!!! While we’ve already run a “Why I Want To Go”
for the event, I’m taking full advantage of my editor’s privilege to talk a bit
more about a couple of the sub-segments that I think are extra special.
First up the auction, I don’t know about you but I’d support
it just because it was run by Kelly “Twenaria” Bonci. She has been a great
friend to me personally, and done a lot to consistently support not just me but
a large number of people I love. If
saving the mosquito was an important cause to her, I’d support it just because
it was her asking.
Luckily though, she has better taste and has picked an
awesome charity to support. War Dogs is a not-for-profit that pairs returning
veterans with PTSD/TBI with rescued dogs that are trained along with the vets
as service dogs for them.
And not only are there lots of reasons you get to feel good
about supporting the auction, you also get an opportunity to win some amazing
stuff. There are two types of prizes. You can purchase raffle tickets for a
tenguanese auction for the smaller items. The larger ones are bid on in a
silent auction. This year’s large prizes include a bottle of Moniack mead, a Dr
Seus bundle, admission to all of Folkestone’s 2015 events, a half case of a
fancy Italian red wine, and a custom chest created by Karma Creations. These
are amazing opportunities to get valuable items, for excellent prices, while
getting a warm fuzzy feeling of supporting Kelly and a great cause.
I don’t just give lip service to supporting this cause, last
year I bought the custom chest from Karma Creations, check it out!!
.jpg)
The other segment I personally adore is the gift swap. I’m
fairly sure when she started it, Twen didn’t understand how big of a deal it
would become. There are over 60 people participating this year, and some of the
gifts given will be the AMAZING result of either lots of work or a significant financial
investment!! That brings me to my main
point on this. It is awesome that people participate and it is thrilling to get
a big exciting gift. I know I have (Thanks Casey!). It is even more awesome to
give a big exciting gift (I know I have done that too), but it is important
that as we all go into it we remember that everyone is in different situations.
Some are far more skilled in crafts than others, and there are huge differences
in people’s discretionary income. Be a gracious giver and receiver. While my
big gift from Casey stands out in my memory, another one that does were some
exceptionally good homemade chocolate chip cookies ( <3 Andrew).
What stood out in terms of bad though was the time Jason got
grocery store chocolate chip cookies complete with the price tag still on. The year I didn’t get a gift at all stood out, too. So basically don’t
worry if your gift for or from someone is big or small, but be thoughtful, AND
make sure you give a gift or if something came up and you really can’t speak
up. TODAY!!! NOW!!! I happen to know for a fact Twen or one of her friendly
elves will make sure the person you had isn’t left out of the fun.