So I called Ingrid, who is keeping a list of our donors to publish in the day's program. We whooped and hollered, then I headed down Forsyth Flats to a place that was supposed to have a horse or 2 we might be able to borrow for the play. This fella, Cork, and his wife, Andi, are neat. They were at lunch, and invited me in. I got started talking about the horses, and handed Cork the flyer, which was one we'd had printed up before we scrapped the petting zoo. I said something about that, and Cork says, "Why aren't you having the petting zoo?" I said that Dorotha'd been trying to find animals for months, that we'd scrapped it because it was getting too late, and we'd come up with other stuff for the kids to do. "Wal...what kind of animals you want? I got some goats you can have. There's some sheep out there, too. Gotta donkey. Why is it too late?" I'm rather on the slow side, but this was just too good to be true. Poor Dorotha, out in southern CA for a much-needed vacation, had been beating her head on brick walls for months. Now this fella and his animals are just falling into my lap. And no one in my bunch is with me to pinch me and tell me I'm dreaming. By the time I left, I'd gotten a gorgeous white stallion for someone in the play to ride; 2 goats; several sheep; a donkey for someone to ride; and pony rides for the kids, at $1 per ride. My rather active pranking came alive, and I called Ingrid again. This time, I asked if Rick was still there--they'd been holding a script meeting while I was out slaying dragons--and told her in a real serious tone that I needed to talk to the both of 'em. LOLOLOL When they were both on the phone, I asked if they were sitting down--apparently, Ingrid had told Rick that I must have bad news--and they were sitting down. Then I told them we had to change the publicity poster again, for we had a petting zoo for Sary's Farm (Dorotha's character in the play is Sary). Hee, hee. You could hear the relief 13 miles away, which was the distance I was from Ingrid's house. Before I left, Cork asked if there was anything else he could do for me. And that's been a common trait of all the folks getting involved with Outlaw Roundup. A couple of re-enactment cast members have painted the set walls, and they and another gal are emptying out their houses for props. I am a lucky gal, knowing so many fine people. A guy who was doing some remodeling on Cork's house was there, and filled out a membership form for the society, and wrote me a check. Seems he's been involved with jail restoration down in Texas, and he is familiar with grant writing. So he's onboard now, too, and he's gonna be in the play as an extra. (We still need men!) Of course, after all that, I went and told the Forsyth police chief we was gonna be firin' some guns during rehearsals next Monday and Friday nights, so he would be prepared for anyone calling and saying they hear gunfire. We're using caps/blanks, but you never know. What with some of the women screaming during the play, and with the gunfire, it could startle a right number of folks.<BG> Some really incredible, awesome days...what am I gonna do when it's over? Plan a concert for this summer, and then comes White River Valley Homecoming in October. You know what? We're not even gonna tell Dorotha that we got the animals for the petting zoo when she gets back Sunday...everyone involved, including her husband, seems to think that Saturday morning of the 19th is soon enough, when Cork pulls in and we send her over to the arena to help a feller out. Talk about prankin'...she's liable to either kiss me or kill me! If everyone shows up who says they're gonna, we're going to have well over 500 people there. I'm afraid to breathe when it comes to numbers. I'm so excited! LOL Vonda Dragon Slayer for the White River Valley Historical Society's Law Day 2001: Outlaw Roundup ListMom for MOTaney and MO-AR-WRV http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gregvonda/