CC16 Scrapbook Page 37

Date: Thu. 9 Apr 1998 (17:19:00 EDT

From: SpkDPnch SpkDPnch@aol.com

Subject: Costume Con 16 Report – Spiked speaks up…..

Well, sorry for taking so long. I had thought about doing it, but I was wondering if anyone really gave much of a rodent’s rear end about them, or letter after letter filled with details overflowing in their mailboxes.

But since the call was made for one…..

First, I would like to thank my fellow S.L.U.T.S. for making this a wonderful experience. Bruce and Nora, thanks from the bottom of my heart. :- )

CC16 was great, for me at least. I am more than sure that everyone else in attendance had a wonderful time too.

Since I work most of the time, I got there late, and learned that much to my luck, that all of the furry panels were in the mornings, and that I missed out on a couple of good ones on Friday already. Since I live in the St. Louis area, just twenty minutes from the hotel, I drove there for all of the days of CC16

The first event I was able to attend was the "Highway to Heaven, Road to Hell" prom, which was basically a costume dance with a high school theme. I did not feel so bad when it turned out that I was not the only one that was not in the theme dressed as Spiked Punch. :- )

For me, this was where the fun began when I got to meet for the first time more furries that I only knew previously by name alone, such as Robert King, Lance Ikegawa, Daren Bost, and Heather Whitesides to name just a few. I sometimes wonder if any of us furries on this list, or elsewhere realize what it is like to live in a "furry-starved" area. Its nice to be able to meet other people who do what you do, and be comfortable with the fact that you are not the only nut in the tree. :- )

The panel discussions were all neat, and I learned a lot, especially about how little I really knew about fursuit construction. :- ) All of us who had attended. were preached to about the wonders of such things as reticulated foam, fastbond 2000, Monterey Mills, and so forth. I went away a changed furry.:- )

Saturday night was the first masquerade, with 25 entries, only one was a junior (I am still kicking myself for not entering). There were no unimpressive displays of skill.
Lance’s fire and ice stole the show (of course!).
Stephan & Marian Clark’s "Rhapsody in Green," a retelling of the frog prince won a a great deal of praise. Both frog suits were very impressive.
Daren Bost’s "Miller Time" Clydesdale received a good deal of recognition for his suits for Saturday and his "Ben Fur" Sunday night.
Cheryl Mandus’s "A Good Argument for Using SpellCheck" dragon was a crowd pleaser, especially when she transformed from a wizard into the scaly critter complete with folding wings.
I only wanted to cover the furries that were involved, but this is not to say that there were not many other as equally impressive displays of skill. Many souls showed their great levels of creativity, everything from the historical to the hilarious, and of course, we had the usual smattering of Klingons, trekkies , amazons, and what not.

As for pictures, I do have quite a few available. Unfortunately, my camera was getting low on power at the time and I did my best to get as many pics as I could of the Saturday masquerade. I have not finished processing them all, and may not for a while due to time restrictions. I have not decided if I will make these available on the web or on demand to those that ask for them.

Like I said, the biggest thrill for me was to meet the other furries in attendance. Even though I have to admit I kinda of felt a bit ashamed of wearing an Alinco suit around all for the wonderful hand made suits, there were no bad feelings, and all seemed to of had fun. :- )

I hope that this little update was up to everyone’s satisfaction, and yes, if you would like to know about the pictures, please write me privately so I can start up a mailing list.

Spiked Punch