|
“Calabasas” Flat Stanley at the Mane Event, October 2010
 |
| Flat Stanley Signs VFTH Guest Book! |
Every year I look forward to one particular celebration of all things “equine”. The Mane Event in Chilliwack, BC! It takes effort, on my part, to get there, as we have to catch the 6:30 AM ferry that leaves from Langdale, on the Sunshine Coast, crossing Howe Sound, to reach the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay, in West Vancouver. How fitting, when travelling to a horse show: the first port of call is “HORSESHOE Bay”! Then we plough our way through the heavy morning rush along the Upper Levels to the Trans Canada Hwy., heading east, along the south side of the Fraser River, towards Chilliwack, just in time for the grand opening, on the first day of the expo, at 11 AM!
Little did I know that, this time, we would have a guest travelling with us. Coming all the way from Calabasas, in Southern California, Flat Stanley prefers to “travel light” by wearing his entire wardrobe. There he was, decked out in bright yellow trousers, purple jacket, and brown toque. Guess he thought it would be snowing up here, in Canada, this time of year. Stanley would sure stand out in a blizzard!
Flat Stanley was just so darn excited, he hardly slept the night before I took him into the Mane Event on Saturday, October 23rd. I'd scouted the place ahead of time, on Friday. I wanted to make sure that Stanley got to see everything that would be of special interest to a young feller coming all the way from a big American city. Calabasas is a suburb of Los Angeles, sitting just north of L.A., up in the rolling hills that border the down town area. His two young friends, Nathan and Jeremy, had paid his way, so I wanted to make sure that Stanley got in on the sights, sounds, and wonderful horse-barn aromas, at The Mane Event. Does anything on Earth smell as good as a horse? NOPE!
Stanley agreed with me---he couldn't get enough of that horsey aroma! Every time I turned around, there was Stanley, climbing all over those miniature horses and donkeys! “Look! Sam! I'm completely covered in horse hair! I smell like a stable! I'm not going to wash these trousers for a year!”, declared Stanley, with a big ol' grin stretching out the sides of his face from ear to ear. If you look at his photos, you can see what happened! That big ol' grin stayed put! He wore it for the entire trip, all the way home to Calabasas, in fact! He just couldn't stop grinning! He was so happy!
One of Stanley's favourite encounters happened when we found the Voice For The Horse booth! He hopped down onto the table and eagerly climbed up into the hand of the young woman who was volunteering, as host, that day. She held Stanley up so that he could see the huge display board that told all about the work that Voice For The Horse does, to rescue horses. Then she told the story about ANGEL, whose photo was featured on that display board. Well! That did it for Flat Stanley! Once he heard about Angel, Flat Stanley was determined to spread the word, all the way home to Calabasas! “Voice For The Horse really does make a difference!” Stanley kept telling everyone he met on the way back to Gibsons. “Wish we had Voice For The Horse down in Calabasas, “ sighed Stanley.
“Listen up, Buckeroo! When you get home to California, you tell Nathan and Jeremy to log onto the VFTH website! Then you can show them what Voice For The Horse does! They even have a place for Americans to place ads on that website! The internet makes it possible for kids and grownups, all the way down there in Calabasas, to help out! So, if you want to, you can have Nathan's school contact Voice For The Horse, to learn more about what can be done to help rescue horses!” “Yippee!”, hollered Stanley! “I just love horses! I want to help them, too!” And, he did!
For the love of horses, donkeys, and mules,
Flat Stanley's host, SAMacintyre, in Gibsons, BC
 |
 |
| Stanley's new love ~ Angel! |
Flat Stanley enjoyed petting Angel! |
 |
 |
| Flat Stanley wanted to take a ride on our logo! |
Flat Stanley rode this pony fast and hard! |
In cooperation with the Flat Stanley Project www.flatstanley.com
|
