Blue Cavern

Hi Guys, I think that it is of extreme importance that we all make our appreciation and thanks felt toward the members who have helped to make it all possible for Andrew to make this wonderful trip.

A big thankyou must go to Maureen who was absolutely wonderful with her generous bidding and donations......

A big thankyou to Stacie for her tiresome help and fund raising.....

A big thankyou to Lucie and Simon for donating the fantastic rugby smurf, we all know how hard it must have been to give him up........

A big thankyou to Karen for all her hardwork and endless money raising and donations, you're a star Karen and without yours and everyones help it just would'nt have been possible.......

Also a big thankyou to those people who could not make the trip to Brussels but have still contributed to making it a great time......


So I guess it leaves me to say a big thankyou to everyone who showed their support wether it be by bidding on auctions, donating money or items or buying raffle tickets. you guys totally rock and if it was'nt for all this hard work and effort then Andrew would'nt have ever been able to make this special journey and meet everyone possible along the way.

It's what makes this such a great place to be and I'm proud to be a member of this Smurf Community!

Three cheers:


Smurfy regards
Steve

I think this last weekend showed why this board is so special....and also what can be accomplished when people work together.

There was the idea for a wonderful fair, there was the idea for a wonderful fundraiser to fulfill a lifelong dream, and people coming together to give and make a miracle happen. I think in the end it was not so much about setting an Aussie loose on Europe (sorry Europe) but about working together to one common goal.. The amazing part was that most of us had never met in person but still worked together...

For me personal it was such a honor to be able to be part of this miracle and the bonus was getting some wonderful smurfs...

I do want to thank all the administrators of this wonderful board, because without their work and watchfulness this board would not be what it is.

Karen, your endless work and effort is amazing, How do you do it? I know it does not always seem that way, but you are so appreciated

Rachel, thank you so much for your expertise and willingness to always help

David, I will never forget how you were willing to help me get rid of some spy ware on my computer when you didn't even know me

Attom, I love how you give unlovable smurfs a home Your expertise on fakes is amazing

Fram, I don't think there is an end to your knowledge about comics

Steve Parks...you make me chuckle so many times....

Staci.. you are such a generous and giving and just amazing person, I don't think there is much that can put you in a bad mood..no wonder Syd adores you

Andrew- well, not sure what I can say about you I am honored to be able to call you a friend and you make me laugh so much, you don't even know how many times I am scaring my cat away because I break out laughing so loud

Over the past few weeks I had some personal contact with a few members and it was always amazing... I have the feeling like I know a lot of you personally without having met you..

I hope we can stay friends for years to come and even though there may be friction I am sure they won't last long

And SmurfySteve.... your enthusiasm,..well, nobody can meet that..

I hope I didn't forget an administrator..If I did, I am deeply sorry, please let me know and I revise this post again.

Thanks so much, Steve. So many people have made donations and auctioned their own items, even though they knew they couldn't make it themselves. The fact that Andrew and Staci were making this trip obviously spurred many others on to make the trip as well, so I do think that there are many forum members we should be thanking because not only have they got Andrew to Europe but they have given great publicity to the fair with their auctions (thank you Robin, Steve, Staci, Simon & Lucie, Maureen, Attom for all listing items on eBay) and obviously thank you to everyone who bought raffle tickets, made cash donations, and bid on the eBay auctions as well. And thank you to Linda who donated a prize in the raffle, and to JT for protecting us from the apple pic.

ALL OF YOU have contributed to making this a successful trip, as we all know Andrew being there has made this a very special trip, and I thought about you all even though you couldn't be there in person. So you may not be in the pictures, but you are very much in our hearts.

First let me say I agree for 100% with the statements above.

Next to this I would personally like to thank everybody who made it possible for Andrew to come over and stay at our place for a couple of nights. His enthousiasm while visiting here and that of others at last Saturday's fair have made my balance flip in favor of moving forward with collecting while before all this I was leaning strongly towards quitting.

Even Tessa has some enthousiasm back as tonight she was in the Smurf room sorthing sockels by language, and she hasn't been in that room for quite a while

So also for this, which can be seen as colletaral damage I guess, thank you

Dennis.

I agree 110% with what you've all said above...thank you thank you thank you! I am completely exhausted but wanted to jump on the forum quickly to say I'm back and I found this thread I had such an incredible trip meeting everyone the past few days (I loved you all and you can come visit anytime!!!) and without this great forum's help, I wouldn't have met Andrew as well. You'll all have to wait for my report until tomorrow though

Here here..It was great to meet andrew in Belgium too..thanks to everyone who made that possible..now I must go get ready..I've got the company of Andrew for 2 days, so I'll say a big 'Hi' from you all to him - I'll try not to stay up all night talking smurfs

Well said Steve

It was an awesome weekend all round, very tiring, but totally worth it ! I was in great company all weekend ! Thanks Everyone !

A big thank you to Tessa and Dennis too, i had fun at your stand !

Well to be honest when I first saw that Karen and Stace were trying to raise enough to send Dyar to Belgium and back (Did you have to make it "and back" guys??) I thought you'd be pushing it. I am amazed by the strength of this community and that two special ladies thought it was possible and did their utmost to make it happen. I know they put a lot of time, effort and resources into getting Dyar there and they really should be commended for it, especially as its one of the things that made the fair such a success as I see it.

I'm also impressed with the generosity of the forum members. I'm pretty sure Maureen just about paid for half that trip through her ebay wins! (You're an angel ) I saw lots of people donating rare smurfs for the cause when they could've just sold ordinary ones or not any at all. Its above and beyond the call of duty and a very noble gesture.

So well done, everyone. You all deserve a pat on the back. (Gee I do sound like a teacher don't I??)

Very well said Steve!!! I fully agree to you!!! When I told my mom that story a few weeks before Dyar's trip, she just couldn't believe that.

It's what makes this such a great place to be and I'm proud to be a member of this Smurf Community!


Smurfy regards
Steve

That's exactly the reason, why I love this board and why I'm so annoyed by the German board. I mean each time, I browse the German board it's either about money or begging for smurfs for free ("What is the value of that smurf?" "I want your smurfs for free").

That's exactly the reason, why I love this board and why I'm so annoyed by the German board. I mean each time, I browse the German board it's either about money or begging for smurfs for free ("How much is the value of that smurf?" "I want your smurfs for free").

100 % agree with you...This forum is amazing...we speak about smurfs, but this is not a competition to see who is the biggest collector, or to see who is the most expert guy in smurfy subjests!!!!!!!!

Lets make a big carrot wave for all of our members...



........

Michelle

and a big thank you, too.

Well said Steve, I agree 100%!

The fact that so much money was raised for Andrew to go and also that Staci was able to make it certainly made it very special and I know I for one was definitely spurred on by this.

So a big Thank You to ALL those who were involved in the fund raising and also those smurfers for helping out with accomodation, transport and general organising.

It always amazes me just how great the smurf collectors are around the world and I think the last few weeks have really proved this.

Totally agree Steve

It was an amazing weekend for all - there are so many lovely people here on the forum

Cathy x

...and to JT for protecting us from the apple pic.

No problem Karen. I think it might be best solution for us all

Since I don´t have too much time, I´d like to use this tread to thank all of you who went to fair and posted pics and reports of it. It´s been real fun to read them. And see you guys had such a good time in Belgium.

I also would like to thank all who has reported and documented Dyar´s trip to Europe. It´s been nice to see our favorite aussie in different locations (drinking beer ).

Well done everyone

Janne

Hey thanks

Syd Smurf





Ok he's a smurf of few words at times.....Personally I would like to thank so many people of course. I guess Karen & Stace have to come first for the idea in the first place (they probably regret this now...lol)

From then on so many people helped in so many ways by either selling or bidding on smurfs with Maureen being an absolute legend of course. I honestly didn't believe it was possible so I was quite pleased to be proven wrong on this one. I didn't realise so many people would give up rare smurfs for auctions and so many others would contribute with enthusiasm and support. It was unbelieveable when the funds went up and up each day and it really gave me a buzz to see the progress each morning even if we didn't get there in the end.

Once I got to Europe I had so many others offering accomodation which saved me literally thousands of dollars but even more so it was more fun to stay with people in their houses and I thank them for the trust they had in me since inviting strangers into your house is probably not highly recommended in normal cases. A special thank you for accomodation to these people in order of my stay: Doris, Tojo, Petra, Klaus, Dennis & Tess, Christy & Mum, David, Staci & Meredith, Karen, Steve Parkes, Smurfysteve & Kimmy, Rachel, Maxine and of course all of the partners.....it was pretty cool to meet you all and your families...and pets...lol...I hope I wasn't too painful for anyone and I apologise for the people I couldn't get to due to lack of time or being a little too far away with Robin, Joaquin & my friends in Finland like JT, Pauli & Yonna that come to mind among a few others outside of the forum. An extra special thank you to Dennis & smurfysteve who had plans changed on them due to changes to the program once I got to Europe...I know that wasn't the best thing but your understanding and not yelling at me was very appreciated. I just remembered that I woke up during the middle of the night in a few of those houses and had no idea where I was.....I loved and miss that feeling.

On top of that many people helped with buying train tickets, buying me a meal when we were out, drinks (which saved me millions of dollars) and some nice presents too which some were given to me instead of being used for the fund raiser which all combined to make this the most incredible trip that anyone could ever have. When you think of my dyar financial situation it's amazing that I could buy lunch sometimes let alone go on a journey that would of cost thousands and thousands of dollars under normal circumstances....but this was more like a priceless trip to me personally as even with a lot of money I couldn't of had the same type of trip without everyone's help.

I will never be able to return thanks for everything to everyone...that would be impossible but I hope you all know that this trip was the most exciting thing that I have ever done in my life...by a long way too.

I know Karen has a list of all of the people involved in the initial fund raiser (I had it too until my normal pc kind of got sick) so maybe K could post the list so those people are not forgotten. I would try to post them all but I would hate to leave anyone out by acsydent.

Thank you everyone....I will never forget my smurfy journey throughout Europe....I think me & Syd left it in pretty good shape in the end and I hope to return again someday to see you all.....maybe by then it will be a journey from retirement home to retirement home but I hope I get there a lot sooner than that as I miss being there and heading somewhere new each day....it was such a blast.

Dyar & Syd

I know Karen has a list of all of the people involved in the initial fund raiser

I have different spreadsheets and stuff but nothing all in the same place. Due to lack of time I can't come up with a list quickly so a general thanks will have to do I am afraid. Bit snowed under right now, sorry.

Glad you got back okay Andrew, good to see you back on the forum Disk of photos on it's way to you soon

Thank you Steve...I know you took tons of pics so I can't wait to see them as it was in a pretty cool and very large city ....London must of grown during the flight over as I had no idea it was so big.

Thanks everyone for being so cool and understanding

Dyar