“The Winner is ‘Murray Lincoln’!!” Wahoo!!!!!

The Mistress of Ceremony called out, “The Winner is ‘Murray Lincoln’!” – which was then followed by some applause and appreciation that I had won. That was nice! I won something. I never win….!

I named her the ‘Mistress of Ceremony’ – not ‘Master’. It was basically an all ladies meeting with around 35 ladies in attendance with only two men – myself and another fellow.

The setting is the Annual Meeting of the Fringe Tatters held in Cambridge, Ontario. Which is best described as a group of very interesting people from all over that have committed themselves to a time to do and talk about ‘all things Tatting’.

The participants come from many places. The first two ladies that I met drove over 9 hours to get there. One from a place in New York State near Connecticut – the other from Indiana. The person that came the furthest was from Guildford, England – which is just south west of London, England. My guess is that about half the audience was from outside of Ontario.

The Mistress of Ceremony again called out, “The Winner is ‘Murray Lincoln’!!” To which the dear folk now applauded louder and called out some funny comments. Everyone laughed.

I thanked everyone and told them all as I accepted the gift, “It’s my wife’s birthday tomorrow (that is today) and I wasn’t able to buy her anything because I am attending this conference…” to which they laughed and teased more.

The ladies in this group are simply amazing in their ability to do things with a Tatting Shuttles and/or Tatting Needles and the thread that is loaded. They know this ancient craft so well that I am blown away.

For years I have thought that I was the only person in my area that has every learned how to Tat… or better said still knew how to Tat.

For the those reading this Blog but not understanding what I am talking about – Tatting is a very old Lace making that has not died but is now coming alive again.

Sadly as I spoke with different ladies in the group they almost all mentioned that there are few people in the areas that they come from that still know how to Tat. Many people that once knew how have passed on. Worse yet they couldn’t or didn’t teach their kids how to do Tatting… perhaps because the children were all too busy. It just didn’t happen.

Thanks to the efforts of this amazing group of Tatters – this Lace Making is gaining a new popularity and starting to grow again.

Are you ready for this… The Mistress of Ceremony again – for the THIRD TIME called out, “The Winner is ‘Murray Lincoln’!!!!!” To which the dear folk now applauded louder and called out some funny comments…but many were HOOTING. Everyone was laughing… I was red faced and not really sure what to say. The dear lady had drawn this man’s name one more time!!!!

Yesterday we sat from 1 PM to 5 PM and then later from 7 PM to 9:30 PM Tatting together. Talk about interesting and fulfilling. Everyone was there for one purpose – to learn more and share more ideas that would encourage others. I fit in just fine – right alongside my brand new ‘Sisters’… this was a family that I didn’t know I had.

One of the Ladies commented as we shared together over the Tatting Project that we were doing… “We find that a lot of Tatters feel that they are the only one that has or is Tatting in their area of the world. Many people feel all alone.”

It is hard to imagine the room full of Ladies all concentrating on their Tatted pieces. One by one they were finished and a little celebration would take place in the conference room of the Best Western Hotel.

Next.... you guessed it.... another announcement took place was 9:45 PM… are you ready…? The Mistress of Ceremony again – one more time – called out, “You won’t believe this….The Winner is ‘Murray Lincoln’!!!!!!” The audience roared! NO WAY – FOUR TIMES A WINER!!!!! Everyone laughed.

How did the winning take place?

Well many donations were given to a Prize Table in the center of the floor area. It was announced that a Draw would take place later in the day and that you could buy tickets for a chance to win. One of the ticket offers was ‘One Yard of tickets for $5.00’ which was about 12 tickets. Upon purchase of the tickets you then wrote name on the back and placed the tickets into different bags with a prize name on it.

I tore off each ticket and placed them in different bags made available.

When the Draw took place I won with 33% of my tickets! I am seriously thinking that I need to go buy a Lottery Ticket – SOON!

Over the past week I have carved several new shuttles that I have been showing at this conference. A number were sold yesterday for which I am very thankful. From a Marketing point of view – this has been an excellent way to bring Misty Hollow Carving into the lives of a whole bunch of new friends.

J.C. Penny stated one time, “A Good Business is built on friendship.”

This weekend I have discovered a whole bunch of new Friends… fellow Tatters… that are a hoot to be with!

“The Winner is ‘Murray Lincoln’!!” Wahoo!!!!!

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/