June 24-30, 2004

mixpicks

Clawing Into First Place

by Liz Harris

Do you love cats? I mean, do you really love all cats, not just the one in your living room? Yes? Then on Saturday and Sunday you are busy.

The Meow Mix Gold Medal Games are coming to Philadelphia this weekend. The event features a series of games that Meow Mix spokesperson Keith Fernbach describes as "a combination of fun carnival games with things you would do for a cat."

There will be a lot of feline skills to be tested. For example, hairball toss involves throwing synthetic hairballs into a trash can-mounted basketball hoop. The litterbox cleanup requires contestants to search through a box of kitty litter for tokens; whoever retrieves the most in 30 seconds wins. Other events include water bowl lap-up and yarn ball unwrap — and yes, these are open only to humans.

The Gold Medal Games are passing through Philadelphia on an eight-city tour. In each location they partner with a local animal adoption agency. Here, the competition will be a part of the extensive Manayunk Arts Festival, and their local co-host will be PALS (Pet Adoption Lifecare Society). At the games this weekend there'll be plenty of opportunity to volunteer for PALS or adopt one of their cats in need of a permanent home.

According to Fernbach, Meow Mix initiated the event to promote cat adoption and to help animal rescue groups. For every participant, Meow Mix donates one pound of their cat food to the local animal rescue.

Fernbach said that the games held in Boston two weeks ago were a tremendous success. The day boasted 300 happy participants, 15 cat-adoption applicants and five volunteer applicants.

Perhaps this weekend would be a good time to see where your cat is coming from.

Meow Mix Gold Medal Games, Sat., June 26, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sun., June 27, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Manayunk Arts Festival, Main Street, Manayunk, www.manayunk.com

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