OCT 2011 VIKING REVIVAL newsletter-1.pdf · REVIVAL OCT 2011 . Robert Bryce – Chair There has...

Following a highly successful meeting on Saturday 8th October, the Viking

Cat Club are pleased to announce that we now have a brand new committee

who are raring to go. The committee would like to thank the VCC mem-

bers for their patience and loyalty over the past few months of uncertainty.

Your new committee members are:

Chair: Robert Bryce

Vice Chair: Debbie Davies

Treasurer: Barney Wright

Pedigree Checker & Validations Officer: Margaret Scott

Secretary: Liz Ward

Show Manager: Denise Burn

Asst Show Manager: Beth Hopkins

Membership Sec: Vera Wright

Committee Member: Marilyn Skulski

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to your new Com-

mittee, on the following pages you will find resume’s from each person.

M e e t t h e n e w

C O M M I T T E E I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Meet the committee 2-5

Chairman & Vice Chair 2

Treasurer & Membership Secretary

3

Show Manager & Assistant show Manager

4

Pedigree Checker & Com-mittee member

5

Halloween Jokes 6-7

Halloween facts & stories 7-8

News from VCC, FB &

forthcoming events. 9 -

10

N E W S L E T T E R

VIKING

REVIVAL

OCT 2011

Robert Bryce – Chair

There has always been a dog in my life both as a child and adult, when I met my wife, Anita, she had four cats &

two dogs. The more I got to know my wife & her pets my interests had to soon move towards cats, one of them

was a feral, so I learnt her body language & dislikes very fast....lol. We are both very strong believer's that cats &

dogs should live in the home as part of the family, therefore we have two outside play pens that our cat's have

access to from within our house, when the weather is mild they are allowed the run

along with our dog of our cat secure back garden.

We decided to breed The Ocicat, Ocicat Classic & Tiffanie due to they are very small

breeds here in the UK, the Classic is a FB New Variety, The Tiffanie is a FB New

Breed, our aim is to promote these beautiful breeds who are very adaptable, affectionate

people cats.

We have had cats participating in FB shows for approx 3yrs & highly enjoy the friendly

atmosphere & format, my wife is the one that looks after our cats, books the shows, etc,

I make & build the playpens, garden security, do the show chauffeuring & help as I can,

Oh & get all the cuppa’s....lol.

I’m employed as a Senior Manufacturing Engineer in a large engineering company, my

role consists of maintaining and improving the production lines and project managing

M e e t t h e c o m m i t t e e

P a g e 2 V I K I N G

Debbie Davies RGN – Vice Chair

I have owned cats since the age of 5, firstly a series of household pets, then owning my first pedigree cat, a Cor-

nish Rex, in 2002. I show and breed Cornish Rex cats under the Celexa prefix, originally with GCCF and since

2006 with FIFe. I also show my Sphynx and this was the breed that got me involved with FIFe, as it was not pos-

sible to show them with GCCF in 2005 when I acquired my first Sphynx.

Since 2006, until recently, I have been a regular face at FB shows, I started stewarding and l found this very in-

formative in learning more about the breeds that I am not so familiar with. I think I am became a very familiar

face as Chief Steward at FB shows around the country, to those members that show on a regular basis. I also

believe that it is very important to encourage the involvement of our younger exhibitors in all aspects of FB, as

they will be the future of FB.

I have been a member of the Viking Cat Club since 2006 and until March 2011 held the position, initially of

Deputy General Secretary from 2008, then subsequently General Secretary of FB from 2009 and this has, I feel,

given me good grounding in how FB and FIFe works and a good understanding of the

rules and statutes of both.

In my working life, I am a qualified nurse, after 15 years working in the NHS in London

and Cheltenham on acute medical units I moved into the private sector in 2005 and now

work full time for a Health Risk Management company as the Manager of the Case

Management team in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. This role is very varied, we have

clients based all over the UK for whom we provide a variety of integrated services in-

cluding sickness absence management, heath surveillance, third party administration of

private healthcare schemes and OH Consultancy. In addition to my nursing skills I now

have a good understanding of HR, Health and Safety and employment law issues.

Barney Wright - Treasurer.

I have been a qualified Psychiatric all my working life ending up working in forensic

psychiatry prior to retirement.

I have been the Treasurer of our Hospital Club for a number of

years prior to my retirement and treasurer of the Norwegian

Cat Club.

I have just given up the Treasurer’s post with FB and am

currently Treasurer of the VCC.



Vera Wright - Membership Secretary

Coming from a farming background animals have been an integral part of

my life from an early age, my family always had dogs, cats and the usual

farm animals. My earliest recollections are of a cat called Beauty, who

acted as an escort, never missing picking me up from the school bus, she

lived to the grand old age of 20. We have owned dogs, namely Cocker

Spaniels and King Charles Cavaliers. When we lived in the Far East we

had a lovely little dog called Tiny, who was re homed to America prior to

us returning to the UK.

Barney and I got our first Norwegian Forest cats in 1996 and were encouraged by the breeder to show them,

which we did with the GCCF unfortunately some 2 years later Westri (aka Bramble) was stolen and was killed

on a nearby road, our Prefix Westrikatt is a lasting memorial to him, we still have his sister Willow, a “golden

oldie” who takes herself next door to live periodically as she has a low tolerance to kittens.

We started breeding Norwegians in 1997, having got our foundations cats from Norway and Germany, the rest is

history. When we got our Amber Norwegian cat, the colour was not recognised by the GCCF and we decided to

start showing with FB, this way of showing was familiar to us as we regularly attend cat shows with breeder

friends in Europe.

Professionally I’ve trained and worked in the fields of general, psychiatry and

learning difficulties nursing, ending up as a forensic psychiatric manager in the

West London Mental Health Trust.



Denise Burn - Show Manger

I'm Denise, originally from Newcastle but now based in the West Mid-

lands with my small family of Siberian cats

Animals have been a massive part of my life from an early age, working at

animals rescue centres, dog racing tracks, police stables and also as a pet

sitter then a coordinator for a well known Pet resort and Care centre in

the North - but 'The Cat' will always hold a special place in my heart.

My prefix 'Sapphirensteel' was registered in 1996 with GCCF and with FIFe in

2005, this is when I began attending shows on a more regular basis - I'd

been bitten by the 'Show Bug

I'm extremely happy to be part of the new VCC - onwards and upwards!!

in my heart

Beth Hopkins - Assistant Show Manager

I have always loved cats, but I am actually allergic to them. A few years ago I was re-

searching possible medications I could look into so that I could finally, after all my life

longing to own a cat, have one of my own. That's when I came across information re-

garding a so-called "hypoallergenic breed of cat" the Siberian, I could not believe what I

was reading. I contacted Denise of Sapphirensteel and arranged an allergy visit, the rest

as they say, is history. It was love at first sight, and I am now a breeder myself. We now

have my beautiful, huge neutered boy, Harvey Junior (Sapphirensteel Maximus), his

sister, Sophie, my first breeding queen (Sapphirensteel Mashinka), we also have

Sophie's daughter, Nala (our first Mykirastar baby, Mykirastar Alyana Blaze of Glory) and I am so excited to be

importing my first Siberian from overseas in the New Year, Etta Happysib, PL. Who would have thought it eh?

Last year, I attended my first cat show, (after I had dosed myself up on the anti-histamines). I

was so nervous but very excited, and I knew my friend, Denise, would show me the ropes.

Well, after my first show, Sophie won Best in Variety, and that was it, I was well and truly

hooked!!

I am so excited to now be the VCC's Assistant Show Manager and to continue this new

found passion on a more in-depth basis and am honoured to be involved in the growth of the

all new Viking Cat Club.

In my private life, I work as a Deputy Regional Field Sales Manager for Thomson Local

where I have worked, very successfully, for the last 15 years, in fact, all my working life has

been in sales at Thomson Local.

Mrs Margaret Scott - Pedigree Checker

Cats have always been part of my life, starting with Billy, the black & white moggy who moved in with us when

I was a child. Although I have always been passionate about cats I didn’t feel able to become a breeder as I have

always worked full time and was concerned that I wouldn’t be “on call” (pardon the pun), when kittens were due,

but when I started working form home this became possible.

I started breeding Abyssinians, a "haughty" breed in 1987 & quickly got involved with the Abyssinian Cat Club,

serving on the committee for a time. I was delighted when my home bred neuter boy Delaret Renoir achieved the

GCCF title of Grand Premier, he is now 15years old, and still rules the roost. It was while breeding Abyssinians

that I became interested in the genetics involved in breeding different colours &

wrote a report on the subject that was published in the Abyssinian Cat Club

magazine "Papyrus". This was written before the now readily available computer

programs on the subject became available, and has since been updated & ex-

panded to cover most of the colours within the semi-longhaired breeds. Since the

days of the Abyssinians & have bred Norwegians, & am now actively involved

with Siberians, a captivating breed with fascinating characters. First & foremost

my cats are much loved pets and are with me for life.



Marilynn Skulski - Committee Member

I am Marilynn Skulski....and have been breeding under the prefix Shanlivle for around 15 years. I started show-

ing a neuter Norwegian Forest Cat PR Jarrahkatt Tyson with the GCCF. We had a brilliant day at the Somerset

and the bug bit. Along with it our first queen a year Jarrahkatt Khiri and then Champion Jarrahkatt Reba who

was only ever beaten by one forest cat and made up to champion at 11 months old against 10 others.

In those days there were not the number of NFC’s shown as there are now and that day it was a record number.

We also had Burmese at that time and our first litter was a litter of eight, I thought Dixie was never going to fin-

ish. We had one of every colour !Two years later we neutered her and she lived until she was 13, sadly we lost

her last Christmas 2010. My heart aches for her every day.

We continued with NFC’s for a number of years until 2010, our first litter was Reba and Idris and it was a super

mating, sadly Reba passed away to liver cancer in 2008 a loss that I will never get over. She was to me, our foun-

dation queen and a super cat along with being a fantastic mother. We continued for another two years but some-

thing was missing and by the end of 2010 all my NFC’s were neutered.

In 2010 we decided to try something new and got my darling Oriental Liberty

and in May 2011 we had our first litter of Oriental’s and Siamese. We now only

have one breeding queen.

I have served on the NFCC committee more times than I care to remember and

also on the VCC for a while but at that time I was on the GCCF stewarding

scheme and I had to make a choice and I chose the stewarding. I love handling

cats at shows and I treat every one of them like I would my own.

This year however I have had to stop due to ill health, I’m unable to drive long

distances due to my medication. & cannot concentrate on things for long.

Q: Why don't angry witches ride their brooms?

A: They're afraid of flying off the handle!

Q: What's a vampire's favourite fast food?

A: A guy with very high blood pressure

Q: What do you use to mend a Jack-O-Lantern?

A: A pumpkin patch.

Q: Why didn't the skeleton go to the ball?

A: Because he had no body to go with!

Q: If you peel my skin off, I won't cry, but you will. What am I?

A: An onion.

Q: What notes does the tightrope-musician have to worry about?

A: C sharp or B flat!

Q: Why was 6 afraid of 7?

A: Because 7 8 9!

Q: Why won`t cannibals eat clowns?

A: Because they taste funny!

Q: What was the favourite game at the ghosts' birthday party?

A: Hide and shriek

Q: What do ghosts serve for dessert?

A: Ice scream

Q: What kind of mistakes do ghosts make?

A: Boo-boos

Q: What vegetable do you get when King Kong walks through

your garden?

A: Squash

Q: Why did the skeleton cross the road?

A: To get to the body shop!

Q: What do you say to a skeleton going on vacation?

A: Bone voyage!

Q. What does a kitty like to eat for breakfast?

A. Mice Krispies.

Q. Why don't cats play poker in the jungle?

A. Too many cheetahs.

Q. What do you use to comb a cat?

A. Claw Enforcement

Q: How do witches keep their hair in place while flying?

A: With scare spray

Q: What was the witch's favourite subject in school?

A: Spelling

H a l l o w e e n

J o k e s

P a g e 6

How to Get to Your Local Supermarket

While waiting for my wife, Paula, at the checkout at Waitrose supermarket in

Marmion Road, Southsea, I noticed that someone had left behind a broom.

When no one came back in looking for it, I nipped outside to search for a

couple I remembered seeing at the cashier's desk. I spotted them getting into

their car and hurried over.

'Excuse me,' I said to the young woman, 'but did you by any chance leave a

broom inside?'

'No,' she replied quickly and with a winning smile, 'we came by car.'

V I K I N G

R E V I V A L

A little Spooky Poem I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish,

But if you wish the wish the witch wishes,

I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.

Some more bad jokes...LOL

Q: Why didn't the skeleton cross the road?

A: Because he didn't have the guts!

Q: What do you say to a skeleton before he eats?

A: Bone appétit!

Q: What type of dog do vampire's like the best?

A: Bloodhounds

Q: What does a vampire never order at a restaurant?

A: A stake sandwich

Q: What is a ghost's favourite mode of transportation?

A: A scareplane

Q: What is a baby ghost's favourite game?

A: Peek-a-boo!

Q: Why did the Vampire subscribe to the Wall Street Journal?

A: He heard it had great circulation

Q: Why do mummies make good employees?

A: They get all wrapped up in there work.

Q: What surgery does a vampire doctor perform?

A: Fly by night operations

Q: What did the ghost buy for his Haunted House?

A: Home Moaners Insurance.

Q: Why do mummies have trouble keeping friends?

A: They're so wrapped up in themselves Why dogs Hate Halloween!!!

M O R E J O K E S

V I K I N G

R E V I V A L

Pillsbury Doughboy's Obituary

Please join in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community.

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes in the belly.

He was 73. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin.

Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects at his funeral, including Mrs Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the

California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies. Captain Crunch sent his apologies. The gravesite was

piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy in the graveyard and lovingly described Doughboy as a

man who did not realize how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life

was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very 'smart' cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked

schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still, even as a crusty old man, was considered a roll model for

millions. Doughboy is survived by his wife, Playa Dough; two children, John Dough and Jane Dough; plus they

have one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 2:50 for about

20 minutes.

Halloween - The Name.

Pretty much everyone agrees with the position of Halloween in the calendar, namely All Hallows Eve, October

31st. Halloween pictures and images fall into three major categories.

Symbols of evil: witches, goblins and especially black cats.

Symbols of death: ghosts, skeletons, haunted houses and graveyards.

Symbols of harvest: pumpkins, Jack-o-Lanterns, scarecrows and corn

dollies.

Other variations on the name include:

• Hallow E'en - Ireland

• Hallowtide or Hallowe'en - Scotland

• Nos Galen-gaeof - Wales (The Night of the Winter Calends)

• Feralia - Roman

• Samhain - Celts

Why Black Cats are known as Witches' Familiars It was largely in the middle Ages that the black cat became affiliated with evil. Because cats are

nocturnal and roam at night, they were believed to be supernatural servants of witches, or even

witches themselves, according to Glenda Moore.

Folklore has it that if a witch becomes human, her black cat will no longer reside in her house.

Some believe that black cats are witches in disguise, or witches reborn.

Others believe black cats are witches familiars (beings that aid witches in performing their craft).

Not all familiars were black cats though; some were cats of other colors, dogs, pigs, or other animals.

For several centuries "witches" were rounded up, tried, and killed by burning or other

violent methods; often their familiars were killed along with them.

Witches and Broomsticks

The significance of a witches broomstick, or should it be witches' broomsticks, is a

fusion of several ideas. There is the plant fertility ritual where the women who plant the

crops and vegetables jump over the broomstick to urge the plants to grow tall and

strong. Linked to jumping over the broomstick is the idea that Handfasting couples

would jump over the broomstick as part of a betrothal ceremony. Hence the phrase

'living over the broomstick', meaning living together but married.

Witches are supernatural beings who need to fly, thus the broomstick becomes the

perfect vehicle for travelling to and from the after-life.

D I D Y O U K N O W


A Coven of Witches - Not just at Halloween A coven is a group of 13 witches. Unfortunately for some of us, a coven of witches can gather not just at Hal-

loween, but at any time of the year. Wife, sister, mother-in-law, aunties, you can soon rack up a great deal of

witch power in your life!

English has many nouns which apply to either gender for example, child, spy, or even angel. Originally witch

was one of these neutral words, but increasingly, witch is a female preserve, and the equivalent male word be-

came warlock.

There are other older words for witch, and they do have gender specific endings, wicca (male) and wicce

(female). Curiously, the plural of wicca and wicce is wiccan.

The oldest pre-Christian meaning for wicce and wicca includes fortune-teller as well as creator of sorcery, medi-

cine and black magic. As with many ancient cults, most of the wiccan secrets were passed on by word of

mouth. Then just when information started to be written down, witches were literally hunted down and killed,

thus not much incentive for them to write things down! Indeed, the 't' first appears in the word wiTch in refer-

ence to witch hunts in the 16th century.

Another Anglo-Saxon documents have the spelling as 'Wica'. Many Saxon tribes had a 'wise man' or a 'wise

woman', who were consulted for potions to cure illnesses. It was a natural development of human nature to pro-

duce magic potions, which may (or may not) act as love charms, or spells to satisfy peoples' desires.

T r u e s t o r i e s

V i k i n g r e v i v a l

Arachnophobe Terrified At Halloween Time

John Stafford, 54, of Scarborough, Yorkshire, England suffers from de-

bilitating arachnophobia, he is so scared of spiders that he is forced to

stay indoors on Halloween.

He claims the condition is so bad that his doctor has told him even fake rubber

spiders displayed in shop windows could give him a fatal heart attack. Describing

his reaction when he sees a spider, he said, 'I stop breathing and pass out, it's just

terrifying.' Mr Stafford added that he had tried everything from hypnosis to pills to

cure his lifelong fear, but without success.

His wife Maria, 44, described the moment she feared for her husband's life after he

saw some spiders in a shop window display, saying he passed out and slumped

against her before she was able to bring him round. She added, 'I've known my

husband since I was four years old and I don't want to bury him now.'

A Witch on a Broomstick - School Logo

The flying witch appears on the pupils' sports kit and uniforms of Warboys Community Primary

School and has been used for the last 60 years. However, some pupils and even some teachers

have avoided the school because of this 'scary' logo. Opinions in the village are running high

and over 1000 signatures have been obtained on a petition to keep the historic emblem.

The historical background to the witch motif is that Warboys is the last recorded place in Eng-

land where witches were hanged. Apparently Alice Samuels, her husband John and her daugh-

ter Agnes were executed in 1593 after being accused by a 10-year-old girl, her four sisters and

servants of causing them to have fits.

A spokesperson has stated, 'Witchcraft and Hallowe'en does not form part of the school curricu-

lum and is something schools go out of their way to avoid. The school is aware that some par-

ents choose not to send their children to Warboys and cite the witch as one of the reasons why.'

Martin Kelsey, the head teacher responsible for improving standards at the school, admitted,

'From the villagers' point of view, it's an emotive issue, because they are very, very proud of

their history.' However, we have learned that the school governors seem determined to get rid of the logo as part of measures to give

it a 'fresh start' after poor inspection reports.

N E W S

P a g e 1 0 V I K I N G

Show Commission News

New Show Year

The FB show year is changing! Currently it runs from November to October,

but from 2013 it will run from January to December, with the Winners Show

being the first show of the year in January. For the interim in 2012 the show

year will run from November 2011, starting with the Winners Show, and will end in Decem-

ber 2012.

The show year is relevant for points for the Awards and for qualifying for the Winners Show.

WORLD SHOW -We would like to say “Congratulations” to All

the Winners, and “Huge Congratulations to the members of the UK

group that attended, may you all have a safe journey home.

If any of our members went please send us some photo’s with comments for

the next NL : )

FELIS BRITANNICA NEWS

Winners Show -Moulton College - Sun 6th November

The GCCF Supreme Cat Show - NEC Birmingham– 19th November, Felis Britannica are

having a stand here, so if your attending as either an exhibitor or visitor, please come along to meet the

Felis Britannica Team.

FB Steward Training -Spalding, Lincolnshire - Sat 26th November

P a g e 1 1 V I K I N G

Forthcoming Shows

Aristocats Cat Club, Christmas Special Show, Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th December, Lutterworth, Leicesteshire.

Closing date: 14th November.

Garden Of England show, Saturday & Sunday 29th January 2112, Ware, Hertfordsire.

WHEN BLACK CATS PROWL AND PUMPKINS GLEAM,

MAY LUCK BE YOURS ON

HALOWEEN.

This is your Newsletter, if you have any show

wins & photo’s, reports, comments or sugges-

tions, articles of interest or any cat related

news, we would like to publish them so please

inform us. We would very much appreciate your

thoughts on how to improve the Newsletter too.

Please Contact: Anita.

[email protected]

N E W S L E T T E R

We are proud to announce that The Viking Cat Club

has a New Website for our members.

Contact details for committee members can be

found on the new website. It will be available from

the 5th November 2011.

W.W.W.Vikingcatclub.com W.W.W.Vikingcatclub.com W.W.W.Vikingcatclub.com W.W.W.Vikingcatclub.com

We also have a NEW VCC Facebook page Facebook page Facebook page Facebook page for up to

the minute news or simply a chat. Please pop in &

say hello :

www.facebook.com/pages/The-Viking-Cat-Club

VCC TO LAUNCH NEW

OFFICIAL WEB SITE

WWW.VIKINGCATCLUB.COM

OCT 2011 VIKING REVIVAL newsletter-1.pdf · REVIVAL OCT 2011 . Robert Bryce – Chair There has...

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