How Shelter Cats Changed Our Lives: Purr Partners

In loving memory of Mai-Tai, 2000-2012

This blog is in memory of our little girl Mai-Tai, who left us way too soon but who lives on in our hearts forever and in honor of all those shelter kitties seeking their forever homes.

Note: This blog originally ran on June 4, 2017 in memory of our cat Mai-Tai who lost her battle with kidney disease in 2012 and to recognize Purr Partners Feline Rescue and the work they do in the community for kitties looking for forever homes.

In 2012 we lost Mai-Tai to kidney disease at the age of 12 years old. Two years later, in 2014, we lost Oreo to feline hepatic lipidosis at the age of 18. After Oreo’s loss, left behind were Sleestak, age 12 and Hamilton, age 11. The decision to adopt again did not come easily. Slee and Hamilton seemed lost without their matriarch but how would they adjust to someone new at their age. Several discussions around this topic occurred and then we finally decided to go meet some potential companions.

After no love connections, a friend posted this photo of this little girl to our Facebook page simply stating she needed a home.

Her name is Waffles and she was in foster care through Purr Partners. I do not know what it was about her. We gravitate toward black cats and tuxedo cats yet here we were looking at this photo thinking “maybe?” We soon contacted the foster family and went to go meet this little one and learned of her rough start to life.

Her and her sisters were rescued by Purr Partners and placed in foster care. One by one they got sick and one by one they crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, except Waffles! They all had feline panleukopenia, a very fatal disease, but clearly not for all! This little one has the same fight in her as Mai-Tai. She was placed in the hospital for up to a month before she was able to go back into foster care.

Our first meeting

When we first met her at her foster home she was busy. Busy playing with her toys. Busy running around the house. We said we’d think about it and went home and talked and looked over at our seniors wondering how they would handle a new baby in the house. Afterall, we were looking for at least a 1-year old and she was just 9 months old at the time. We decided to give it a go. She wasn’t getting any younger and unfortunately, teenagers/adults start to get overlooked and she was not one who enjoyed spending time in an enclosure at PetsMart with people tapping on the windows. Not this prima donna!

So, we adopted her and our house lit up again with activity and kitty drama. It’s wonderful! For months, she would bully her kitty big brother although I always warned her not to poke the “bear." Now he is in charge. She has actually got that boy up and out of bed and running around the house again. She adores Slee who wishes she would just go away. But I think she’s good for the seniors – keeps them young! She’s even become Triangle Around Town’s unofficial mascot. I often wonder who rescued who when we brought her home. We often joke that it takes a village to raise a Waffles as we have also become good friends with her foster parents as well.

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Purr Partners Feline Rescue

Purr Partners was founded in 2009 and like other established shelters today, started with a love for animals, a couple of volunteers, no budget, but the drive necessary to take action and work with rural shelters where cats have less chance of survival and are overlooked and sometimes forgotten about. Just think, without Purr Partners, Waffles and her sisters would have had very little, if any, chance of survival and no one to fight for them.

Now, in just 8 short years, Purr Partners has grown to over 100 volunteers. The rescues are placed in loving foster homes where they are socialized and loved. They partner with PetsMart to showcase these cats with adopt-a-thon events on most weekends. In our case, we were fortunate enough to first meet Waffles in a home environment to see how she interacts with other cats and people. Which was good since she did not care for PetsMart.

Like other rescues, they could not do what they do without the dedication of its volunteers. Some of the volunteer roles needed are foster families, PetsMart cleaner, helping at adopt-a-thons, transportation, and fundraising. To consider volunteering with Purr Partners, click here for more information.

We decided that the best way to honor and remember Mai-Tai on her 5^th anniversary was to sponsor a kitty in need of a home. We are currently working with Purr Partners on this so be sure to check back as we hope to feature a sponsored Purr Partner kitty in the hopes of finding him/her a new forever home.

To make a donation to Purr Partners, click here.

Wedding planner with a passion for wine helps make dreams come true

Kimberly Williams, owner, Weddings by the Vine             

c/o Catherine Davis Photography

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH ... 

By Jennifer Primrose | May 31, 2017
Twitter: TriangleAT | Facebook: Triangle Around Town | Instagram: trianglearoundtown

In this edition of Five Questions With ... we reached out to the creator/owner of Weddings by the Vine, Kimberly Williams. Weddings by the Vine, based in Cary, is a boutique wedding planning service specializing in vineyard weddings here in North Carolina. We first met Kim and her husband, Ron, through our connections with Triangle Around Town. Not only did we enjoy talking with them about Kim's wedding planning business but also discovered that Jen and Kim were from the same hometown in Michigan.

Being from Michigan, it is no surprise that North Carolina is an attractive place to relocate. Kim knew from the time she was 14 years old she wanted to move from Michigan, so two years after graduating from college, she and her husband moved to Cary. After volunteering as a wedding coordinator at her church for nine years, and combining her love of wine and weddings, she started Weddings by the Vine as a side project while working as a financial analyst. In 2014, Weddings by the Vine went full-time.

Related Story: Carronni's Hand Crafted Creations have N.C. wineries in mind

Your business is called Weddings by the Vine. You plan weddings around the perfect winery location. How did you get into wedding planning, and better yet, what made you decide to specifically work with North Carolina wineries in planning the perfect wedding? I went back to college when my kids were a little older to focus on finance. During my time at Meredith, I was able to meet with some of the NCSU students who were researching the growing NC wine industry. Back in 2004, there were only about 50-55 vineyards, and now, we have well over 100. Not all of them accommodate weddings and events, but they are all fun to visit, and I love hearing the unique stories behind the beginnings of each vineyard.

With my love of wine and hobby of going to wine tastings, I just knew that the industry would continue to grow. I began considering services that I could offer the vineyards and sent out a survey to assess their needs. I even attended a full day class at Surry Community College about how to start a vineyard.

Related Story: Check out the top North Carolina wineries of 2016

While some of my clients have already selected a NC vineyard as their wedding venue, some contract me to assist with the selection, which is the favorite part of my job! They are just not aware that NC has well over 100 vineyards to offer – all beautiful, unique spaces – giving them a number of additional options than they originally thought. I've even had couples who have had a hard time making a decision because there were several vineyards that fit their wedding vision.

c/o Cameron Ingalls Photography

You're a wedding planner that works primarily with wineries. Tell us a little about that. Is it easier or more difficult to work with wineries than typical event facilities? Most event facilities you can, technically, work with year round. Do you find that with winery weddings you have a smaller window to work with, due to when the vines are in bloom. If you would have asked me this question last year, I would have definitely said it's very seasonal. But I had two vineyard weddings this winter which were beautiful. I will admit that there weren't any photos by the vines, but one of the ceremonies was able to be held outdoors since the weather was so mild. A number of the vineyards have increased their indoor/covered spaces so they can now accommodate both the ceremony and reception indoors, if needed.

I wouldn't say it's harder to work an event at a vineyard, but it's definitely more spread out than a typical venue set up. I also love the variety that vineyards can offer clients. They can easily have a rustic setting for their ceremony near the vines, then move onto a lovely patio for cocktail hour and finally make their way inside to a dinner with an upscale feel – it's just amazing when you can have slightly different cohesive styles at the same venue. I will say that I definitely get my exercise in for the day though!

How many wineries have you worked with in the state so far? Do you have any favorites you prefer to work with? While I have personally visited and toured most of the vineyards that have wedding space, I have had events and worked with about 30 vineyards. I have to say that they all have an aspect that I love and are all my favorites in their own unique ways.

There are so many perfect moments in planning a wedding. Can you tell us some of those? But also, many weddings have slight to epic disasters. Can you give us a few examples of those? Interesting question! I'll start with no wedding is perfect – and it's my job to hide/resolve any issues that arise. Of the few major issues I've experienced, weather has always been the reason and is the biggest concern with any outdoor wedding. I've learned a lot from these experiences and am better prepared for future weddings. It shouldn't deter brides from wanting an outdoor wedding – we always have a weather plan in place. Some of those weddings though have turned into the most fun when the bride and her family have a good attitude and remember this is their one day to celebrate regardless of the weather.

c/o Treasured Moments Photography

There are two really special moments that I remember specifically. One was actually at a wedding where wind was a factor, and I had to take down some of the items so they wouldn't break. When the bride was walking up to meet the groom, the wind was blowing and she looked absolutely stunning because her dress was tiered and all of the overlapping layers were blowing in the wind. It was so pretty, and right before she started her walk, she said to me, "this is exactly what I had pictured for my wedding!". Definitely one of my favorite memories.

Another favorite memory is from my first out-of-state couple who I got to know really well. They were just so happy, and I saw it the whole day. They weren't afraid to show their emotions and you just felt happy for them. It was one of the most fun weddings I've worked on.

You recently started doing event planning, private parties, anniversaries, etc. in addition to weddings. What made you head into that direction? Are these new paths going to still stay in the winery field? Yes, definitely! It's just another avenue to bring events to the NC vineyards. Weddings are still my main focus, but I had a few requests last year for these types of events at the vineyards and local wine bars. It's a nice change and these events can happen year round. My new fun service is choosing and serving NC wine at corporate events, seminars, etc. – just another way to introduce NC wine to people who may not make it out to the vineyards.

What's next for Weddings By The Vine? Anything new we might see in 2017?
That's a great question! I'm always coming up with new things, but you'll have to subscribe (sign-up form is at the bottom of my home page) to my new newsletter to find out! I will say that my goal, as it's always been, is helping clients turn a stressful process into happy planning while promoting the NC wine industry!

Related Story: Raleigh realtor mixes wine with real estate

Keep up-to-date with Weddings by the Vine by visiting the web page at www.weddingsbythevine.com

If you or someone you know would like to be featured in our monthly Five Questions With, please send an email to trianglearoundtown@gmail.com

Shelton Vineyards Hosts 7th Annual Running the Vines 5K & 10K

By Jennifer Primrose and Dathan Kazsuk | May 24, 2017  
Twitter: TriangleAT | Facebook: Triangle Around Town | Instagram: trianglearoundtown

It was our goal for this year. To participate in as many 5K runs as we could manage. Earlier this year we participated in the Chetola Resort Corkscrew 5K run during the annual SAVOR Food and Wine Festival in Blowing Rock. And now, we decided to try our luck at the 7th annual Running the Vines hosted by Shelton Vineyards in Dobson.

If you haven't noticed the trend of our first two runs, they revolve around ... you guess it ... wine! And just to let you at home know, we are by no means "runners." We both have issues with our feet, but we don't let that stop us ... for now anyway.

Check out our video from our day at Shelton, click here.

  
Running the Vines 5K takes you along a route from the Hampton Inn & Suites at Shelton Vineyards to the winery while the 10K takes you through the vineyard (or so we are told!) This event is co-hosted by the Mount Airy Parks and Recreation, Surry County Parks and Recreation, and the Town of Dobson. Here's a look at our day:

5:45 AM: The alarm clock went off way too early for us on this Saturday morning, but we eventually rolled out of bed. Donned in our Running the Vines t-shirts and running gear, we headed downstairs for breakfast at the hotel. Scrambled eggs, sausage patties and yogurt - the breakfast of champions!

7:15 AM: We arrived at the Hampton Inn and Suites at Shelton Vineyards and quickly sized up the other runners in the hopes that surely there would be some that would be walking so we wouldn't come in last place! Jen was starting to worry as she was witnessing some serious runners in this group. Yikes! "I should have trained better," she was heard saying.

8:00 AM: Those running the 10K are directed to gather at the start line to get ready to head out on their journey through the vineyards. The countdown begins – and off they go.

8:15 AM: It was now our turn. Jen was feeling OK, but it was Dathan who saved the day with his patience and keeping her on track with intervals resulting in Jen's best time ever. Before long we hit the 1-mile marker. Continuing on, passing the corn fields and cow pastures in search of the vineyard, we were on our way to mile 3. Dathan decided it was time to pick up his pace and run the last mile, while Jen found her groove with her speed walking. Before long, with vines in sight up ahead, a right turn to enter the gates of Shelton and the view was breathtaking. Vines on both sides, the mountains in the background, and tasting room up ahead ... what more motivation did one need for this last push? With the finish line in site, Jen decided it was time to run to the end. Dathan, after already finishing, came back and joined in as the finish line got closer!

So, Jen, the non-runner who is always foolishly suggesting we do these 5K runs, finished another 5K asking "why did I decide to do this again?" soon became "I did it! Can't wait for next year!"

9:30 AM: We're not sure on the exact time, but we stuck around for the 5K awards to be handed out. Not that we were expecting an award, but it's always fun (and motivating) to see who had the best times and what those times were. We even pretended we came in 1st and 2nd place for a photo op!

Related Story: Corkscrew and Brew 5K at Chetola Resort

10:00 AM: We decided to head back to our hotel in Jonesville and get ready to check out the scene at the 16th Annual Yadkin Valley Wine Festival. With more than 25 wineries in attendance and close to 3,000 visitors, according to the Elkin Tribune, this wine festival was worth checking out. Shocking that a wine festival would just so happen to be taking place on the exact weekend we were in town!

12:00 PM: When we arrived at the wine festival, it occurred to us yet again why we no longer enjoy going to festivals in general. Too many people is the first thing that comes to mind ... and on a hot day no less! Now, this is not to say wine festivals are not for everyone, just not us. Personally, we prefer to visit the wineries which affords us an opportunity to talk wine with the winemakers, winery owners, managers, employees and other guests rather than feeling rushed like you do at a festival.

Lines formed early at the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival in Elkin.

But, nonetheless, it was fun to walk around and see which wineries were in attendance. We were fortunate to run into and chat with Amy Helton from Hanover Park Winery and a quick hello to the NC Wine Guys who were helping out at the Hanover tent.

The wine was definitely flowing and some wineries also had some good deals for purchase. We even walked out with three bottles from Raffaldini on a whim. Unfortunately, the scene was just a little much for us – perhaps because we just finished a 3-mile run/walk? So, off we went to Angry Troll Brewing in downtown Elkin.

1:00 PM: The last time we were at Angry Troll brewing was probably a few months ago so we decided it was time to pay them a visit again. The taproom was empty at this early hour, the air conditioner was on and we were happy. No crowds, no heat and refreshing pomegranate beer and we finally got our second wind. After all, our day at Shelton was not quite over yet.

3:00 PM: We arrived back at Shelton Vineyards for the tour and tasting. Melanie (Mel) did an absolutely fantastic job as our tour guide. She was funny, animated, informative and made the experience great. Following the tour, we did our tasting and retreated to the patio with a glass of Dry Rose´and a Two-Five-Nine Estate Bottled Petit Verdot. 

We took a break on the Shelton patio to enjoy a glass of wine each before dinner.

4:30 PM: It was time for dinner, so instead of staying and eating at the Harvest Grille, we headed down the road to Putters sports bar, and then back to Shelton for the first of the Summer Concert Series featuring the 80s band, The Breakfast Club. We settled in with our lawn chairs and a bottle of 2013 Merlot as we were transported back in time to some of our favorite music to dance the night away – or in our case, watch others dance the night away!

Breakfast Club played songs from Vanilla Ice, Devo, Van Halen, Corey Hart, Motley Crue and other 80s bands.

All in all, we had a fantastic time. When we first entertained the idea of doing this race, we were really impressed with the day-long events with two bands (we did miss the Afternoon Cool Down with the Mediocre Bad Guys), tastings and tours, hay rides through the vineyard – we are so glad we decided to sign up and will do the same next year and hopefully more years to come.

These Marvel Universe Characters Deserve Their Own Movies

By Dathan Kazsuk | May 14, 2017
Twitter: TriangleAT | Facebook: Triangle Around Town | Instagram: trianglearoundtown

Out of my group of "comic book" friends, I'm probably the last one in the bunch to have seen Marvel's latest hit, Guardians of the Galaxy 2. To be honest, I have been slacking off on my Marvel Universe these days. I didn't see Doctor Strange until I picked it up on Blu-ray. And haven't watched a single episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this season. So this past Saturday, we finally made it out to see Guardians 2.

I won't drop any spoilers if you haven't seen the movie, but must say I was impressed. What I'm more so impressed with is how Marvel can take an unknown comic book and its rag-tag characters and turn it into a movie where the characters are household names. I'm talking about baby Groot and Rocket. Or how brilliant actor, Michael Rooker, who I'll always remember as "Henry" from the 1986 movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer or Jared Svenning from the 1995 underground classic, Mallrats, will now be known as Yondu.

So I thought to myself. Why can't Marvel make movies featuring some of my favorite MCU characters of all time. Sure, some of them have been portrayed in celluloid in the past – and were pretty horrible. So here I will name off my top 10. You might agree. You might disagree. You might have never even heard of them ... but then again, you probably never heard of Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer or Gamora until a couple years ago.

So listed below are what I would consider to be my personal top considerations for Marvel Universe movies to be released before I die! 

Rom the Spaceknight. Honestly, I think they could have worked him into Guardians of the Galaxy this time around. Sure, he wasn't, but I still have faith that a Rom movie would kick some movie ass. Now I know Rom's rights technically belong to Parker Brothers/Hasbro, but back when I use to collect the comics it was Marvel. Imagine a cyborg from the planet of Galador who fights off the magic of the Dire Wraiths. Rom's armor is made of Plandanium, which is almost similar to Wolverine's Adamantium bones and claws. Yup, he's almost indestructible, and with self healing abilities to boot. And his Neutralizer gun, which was designed just to banish those darn Dire Wraiths, was used to send them back to limbo. In the comic book world, Rom has been introduced to such characters as Iron Fist and the Hulk.

Groo the Wanderer was a comic written and drawn by Sergio Aragonés. If you ever used to have your mom buy you an issue of Mad magazine, then you've seen the work by Aragonés. Widely regarded as "the world's fastest cartoonist" I used to love seeing his drawings in Mad. And then along came Groo! If you haven't figured it out, Groo is a satire take on Conan the Barbarian. He has been described as a large-nosed buffoon and usually found himself getting in sticky situations. And as like most barbarians who will do anything for money, power or sex ... all you need to do for Groo was offer him Cheese Dip, and then you might hear, "Now Groo does what Groo does best." It's far-fetched to see this on film, but I'd love to see Duane "the Rock" Johnson play this role!

The first time I recall seeing Scourge in the comic was when he killed one of my favorite b-list villains, Death Adder, of the Serpent Society. Since then he killed off a total of 36 other villains in the comics, typically appearing in the Captain America series. Scourge was a master of disguise and used those skills and a powerful rifle to kill his victims. Right after the Serpent Society were hired to kill M.O.D.O.K., Death Adder disguised himself in a trench coat and hat (which everyone did in the comic book world) and got into a cab. The cab driver, who was Scourge, shot off a round from his gun into Adder belly and said the three words Scourge was known for ... Justice Is Served! Who would play Scourge in a movie? Well, I would have said Karl Urban, who will appear in Thor 3 as The Executioner.

Think Wolverine and Deadpool and you would have Madcap. No, not a near-invinsible human with a witty sense of humor and tons of weapons and razor sharp claws. Just a witty sense of humor and someone you can't kill. The villain who is Madcap was always a pain in Captain America's side. After a serious car accidents with a tanker truck where Madcap was introduced to Compound X07 (an experimental nerve agent made by A.I.M.), he virtually became immortal. Madcap heals from ANY physical injury instantly – he's been decapitated and incinerated, and has come back each and every time. Plus he feels no pain – how cool would that be? He also has a specialized form of insanity-inducement which will drive anyone bonkers upon eye contact. Back in the day I thought Jim Carrey would have been the perfect Madcap – Think Carrey in the movie The Mask, but even more insane!

Probably the first one on the list that you might know. But then again, who doesn't know The Punisher? Dolph Lundgren played him in 1989. Thomas Jane played him in 2004. Ray Stevenson played him in 2008. And last but not least, Walking Dead actor Jon Bernthal took on the role in season 2 of Netflix's Daredevil in 2016. Dolph and Thomas pretty much sucked as Frank Castle – but I have to say that Stevenson's rendition of The Punisher was my favorite. The violence was there. The look was there. However, in that movie, I thought the actor who played Jigsaw was awful! Later this year, Bernthal will get an entire season devoted to the vigilante, and I'm curious to see how this plays out! But in my opinion so far, Stevenson was the best Punisher.

"I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" That should have been a line from one of the most menacing characters in Marvel Universe history. Instead it comes from a lame ass character who gets outwitted by the X-Men's Kitty Pryde in X-Men's The Last Stand movie. Cain Marko, aka Juggernaut, has held his own against characters such as Colossus, Hulk, The Thing and Thor – and is probably one of the most powerful "humanoids" that subside on the planet Earth. If Marvel ever gets the rights to the X-Men, I hope they would bring back Juggs and have a massive battle with Colossus. Who would play Juggernaut? I say a mix between CGI and Brock Lesnar.

Based on the line of toys, the Micronauts were one of my favorite childhood memories. I had several different colors of the Pharoids, adored my Baron Karza and his hell-horse, Andromeda. I had the vicious Terraphant, which squirted water out its trunk and the rare Acroyer figure. Forget about the Transformers, Michael Bay would have scored a hit if he would have based a couple movies on these action figures – no disrespect to Optimus Prime and Megatron. Even if this was 100 percent CGI it would probably be a killer movie.The Micronauts comic came out in 1979, and I remember picking up issue #1 at our local comic store. Marvel Universe released the comics, so in time, the Micronauts were introduced to characters such as The Fantastic Four, Psycho Man and even Galactus.

Yes, I know Netflix just release Iron Fist in the line of series leading up to The Defenders. But I also didn't see the Danny Rand I was used to seeing in the comics. I'm still not sure that Finn Jones was the right choice for this character. I'll give them until The Defenders to see if the character grows on me ... and becomes the bad to the bone martial artist who is best friends with Luke Cage. As far as a good Iron First, I would have stuck with one of the original concepts of using Ray Park (a.k.a. Darth Maul and Toad), even though he might be too old now.

It seems I usually favor the bad guys in the comic world. If you take a look at my top 10, they are equally divided between "good" and "evil." But as far as groups go, sure I collected The Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four, but I really enjoyed when The Serpent Society wound up in the comics. Of course all the villains were named after snakes, so we had characters such as Cobra, Viper, Cottonmouth, Constrictor, Diamondback, Sidewinder, Anaconda and Death Adder. Now here's a pitch to Marvel to finally do a movie based around the bad guys and do a movie with The Serpent Society. And I have the perfect story line (look into when they were hired to kill M.O.D.O.K ... and use that!). The movie would be filled with male and female characters, great CGI with Bushmaster, and here's your opportunity to get Peter Dinklage to play the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing!

Here we go ... my favorite character in the Marvel Universe ... Victor Creed! I remember the best comic with him, at least in my childhood was when I bought The Uncanny X-Men issue #213. It was an epic fight between Sabretooth and Wolverine that essentially went from cover to cover. In the movie world, Sabretooth has appeared twice in X-Men movies. The first time was in the premiere X-Men motion picture in 2000, when Tyler Mane played Creed. Mane stands 6'8" so he was close to the same height as Sabre, but he was again another comic book character who fell flat. Then nine years later Sabretooth made his second appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played this time by Liev Schreiber. This time, he was a little more like the comics – and I thought Schreiber did a good job. Now, with Hugh Jackman stepping down as Wolverine, I think they can continue on by bringing back Schreiber and start a new realm of Sabretooth. Hell, the character has been existing in the comic world for 40 years now, I think they'll have some backstories they can use!