a little girl never grows up

I've had Raggedy Ann since I can remember.  I have pictures from my 2nd birthday and up of my beloved doll in my arms.  When I was 2 my mom had a little church lady make a Raggedy Ann for me.  From the stories my mother tells, I dragged that doll everywhere.  She had to wean me off of taking "Aggie" everywhere when I went to kindergarten.  When one doll would wear out, she would patch Aggie until she was beyond patching and then I would receive a new one.  I have 4 homemade Aggies.  By the time I was 6yo, Mom and Dad upgraded to a store bought doll but I started to outgrow taking her everywhere and she survived far longer than the other 4 though nowadays, she's missing her face. 

My mom's favorite story is when one of my "Aggies" had a gigantic hole in her forehead.  My grandmother took her into the sewing room for "emergency surgery".  I knelt down just outside the door and prayed for Aggie.  When Grandma came out, Aggie had a new patch over her head and (according to my mother) I ran around the house yelling "God healed Aggie!"  Ah, the faith of a child.
Over the years, I've picked up Raggedy Ann dolls and misc. from garage sales, friends, or various places but I've never felt like a collector.  When I stumbled upon a facebook page for Raggedy Ann Collectors and then a page for a Raggedy Ann Rally in Arcola, IL.  I knew they did the Raggedy Ann Festival years ago but I thought they had stopped them so I didn't even think to look.  Since being on these pages and meeting fellow collectors, I was filled with a new sense of excitement for Raggedy Ann.  Suddenly I wanted to bring up all my collection from the boxes in the basement and so, I did.  I took pictures of everything I had and made an album of them.  I started holding and looking at my beloved "homies" and enjoying them all over again.  I even took out that pattern that I've had for 3 yrs and said "I'm going to make her in time for the Rally."  And in under 30 days, she was done. 

The blessings continued when Kurtis said that yes, he would take me to this Rally and we would have two days together enjoying something that brings me happiness (in a geeky sort of way).  And so, we did. I just want to write down the amazing-ness of this weekend and some of the things that were running through my head.  Some of the once in a lifetime moments I had.
Friday night was the banquet for Raggedy Collectors.  With these types of events, you don't know anyone. You're walking into a room with 70 strangers and you don't know what it's gonna be like.  Because of the facebook page, I had been able to get to know a few people.  They knew me a little bit and it was fun chatting.  We all were looking forward to meeting face to face.  As we are walking into the restaurant, I hear 2 people yell "Greta!" (and they said it correctly b/c we had talked on FB about how to pronounce my name)!  I was enveloped in hug after hug, hearing these wonderful people tell me how excited they were to meet me.  People who could find me annoying, naïve, or dorky but they embraced me and just treated me like a lifelong friend.  Kathy even had the pronunciation of my name on my nametag b/c she wanted people to know how to say it right off the bat!  I had people who wanted to sit with me, no weird "where are we gonna sit" moments!  Pictures were taken EVERYWHERE!  EVERYONE was getting hugged, even husbands!  I bought a camel with wrinkled knees to get autographs from people I met and so, I did!  Friday night was just fun meeting people who's names I knew but their faces were "new".  It was crazy how instantly I related to these people.  One gal, Loujean, made a comment to me that she had started reading my blog and said "this is you.  You are real."  It really affected me b/c I do try to be genuine so it made me feel good :)  Of course, it didn't take long for me to get talked into dancing in front of everyone.....great way to make a first impression, right?  The best moment of the dancing for me was when one of the husbands was sitting at a table and I tried to get him to join the conga line. Everyone was so sure he wouldn't do it.  I just told him "your birthday was last week and this is your chance to dance with a bunch of younger women!"  What a sport he was, jumping up and following the conga line.  He is now forever, my conga line dancing partner!  It was one of my highlights!

Saturday morning was the day to get up and get your big girl panties on....we were SHOPPING!  The Rally was of course to meet people but they also had vendors selling Raggedy Ann stuff that you've never even heard of.  And that is where the fun began.  Isabel and I worked on a "Giraffe Ballerina Ann" for the Raggedy Ann makeover contest.  She looked crazy but Izzy and I did it together so it was worth it.  One sweet woman, Rose, even sold a HUGE giraffe to me when I told her how much Isabel loves giraffes.  I got LOTS of goodies.  That was another amazing thing...people brought goodie bags for everybody!  Everyone was passing out goodies to others....dolls, pins, bags, I got a piggy bank with Andy on a rocking horse from Patti.  Kathy gave me a t-shirt.  Loujean gave me two vests (see me in my awesome vest in the above picture).  She gave Izzy some dress the Raggedy stickers and more.  Robyn even had a purse that matched my vest....totally using them both next year.  I really did get a ton of stuff. So here's some fun stories of my "goodies".

The Toy box: As the day was wearing down, I had gone through the Vendor barn four times probably.  I just kept looking but my wallet was getting thin.  Brownie Statler walks up to me and says "I'm gonna make you a good deal."  He proceeds to walk over and pick up the 3 biggest items he has left.  They happen to be a rocking horse-type chair, a hamper, and a toy box bench.  I told him that I didn't have much money left and he said "that's okay."  He asked his wife what the least amount was she would take on the toy box.  I won't mention the price but let's just say that I basically stole from them.  I don't know how Kurtis and Brownie fit that toy box and chair in our car but they did (I didn't have room for the hamper).

The Arcola Ann: I wanted an Arcola Ann (from the festival in 2001) but I knew they were a high priced item.  I had talked to a few people about them but I wasn't sure.  Rose had sold me the HUGE giraffe and mentioned she had an Arcola Ann.  She made me a deal on both.  When she pulled out the Arcola Ann, we looked at the collection number.  She was #52 out of 5,000.  The lower the number the higher the value!  I couldn't believe it!
The Awake/Asleep dolls: I decided to get the Awake/Asleep dolls from the gift shop b/c Joni Gruelle Wannamaker (Johnny Gruelle's granddaughter) would sign them for you.  I walked in with Kurtis, Loujean, and Charlie and picked up the first box I saw.  It was #110 out of 5,000!  But the story gets better.

After we bought the dolls, Loujean was asked to go up to the schoolhouse to read to any children that came.  We walked up to the schoolhouse and realized that there were no kids to read to BUT Joni was coming out of the schoolhouse.  She stopped to pose for pictures with us and talked to us for a bit.  I was nervous to ask her if she would sign my dolls before the time allotted but Loujean asked her and she said "sure, I've got time".  So, she did.  She signed both my dolls and while she had time, I showed her my doll that I made.  I had made a wig for the doll and hated it so I threw it out.  The second wig I made was hard and I was not happy with it but I kept it.  As I handed my doll to her, she looks her over and first words out of her mouth are "I love her hair!"  I was so speechless.  I felt like crying!  I could not believe she  said the very thing that I was so worried about.  It gets better.  She still had time to kill so she sat Kurtis, Loujean, Charlie and I down and there in the little schoolhouse, she showed us how to draw Raggedy Ann.  She took pictures with us, with our drawings, and just talked to us.  When she was done, she said "I don't know what I'm going to do with these drawings I made to show everyone how to draw.  Why don't you take them?!"  We got to take her artwork, signed, home with us....for free....just out of the goodness of her heart.  We talked for a little while longer and as she got ready to leave, she said "Thank you for letting me spend time with you and share with you."  I almost fell off my seat.  She just thanked us for spending time with her!  It was one of those "I never thought I'd get to do something like that" moments.  SO COOL!

When it was all said and done, we were gonna head out but we asked some folks to have dinner with us before we left for home.  It was so fun to chat and laugh and share stories with these people.  I just love them all so much and there is a kinship that I can't understand, let alone express.  But it was so cool for me to experience this weekend.  It made "a hobby" into a "true passion" for me.  I can't express how much I loved the whole weekend! But I thought I try to share it....and so, I did!