Meet Up 2014 ~ Great Lakes

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Would love a meet up this year for the Great Lakes Pod? I'm I Alliance, Ohio. It's about 20 min. from Canton, Ohio. And about 40 from Akron. So, ya, discus below.

[Mer_Adella]

well i am up in the middle part of MI but i would love to help something plan out

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

I'm about an hour north of Columbus I would love to have a meet up once I get my tail! Were you thinking going to a natural body of water or perhaps a pool or aquatic park?

[Bellasea]

I'm in West Michigan right on Lake Michigan! But how do y'all feel about meeting at the Holly Ren Fest? I know there probably won't be very much "mermaiding" going on of we did, but we could do the pirate weekend. Just a thought :D

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

I was hoping to have a mermaid meet in Ohio although I've never been to a Ren festival and it sounds like fun.

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Maybe there's a place that everyone could go to after the Ren festival to swim or perhaps make it a two day meet up?

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Where is the Ren fest?

[Mer_Adella]

The Rennisanace festival is in Holly Mi (SE side)

Bellasea did you know about the Michigan Pirate Festival? going on 8th year now

[Mermaid Caspiana]

So I looked it up and saw that it is every weekend. So we can probably plan a weekend in summer. :) Then pick a spot to stay the night (preferably with a pool) and then go somewhere we can swim and stuff. :)

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Do people dress up at the festival? We could all wear mer related items like hair clips and such!

[Mermaid Sirena]

Yes a lot of people dress up for the Holly Ren Fair and there is a hotel just down the road (5 minutes?) that has a pool. There is a lot of things to do there and it is a lot of fun to check out the store's, play some of the games or just people watch. There will be several mermaids there already as Holly has mermaid performers, though if you mers choose Holly I won't be able to hang out much if it's one of the weekends I work.

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

We should plan it at a time that you don't work so we could all meet :) it sounds like a fun time

[Mermaid Marissa]

I would love to do a meet up sometime this summer maybe? I live in Chicago but I leave for college in Florida Aug. 8th I'd also love to help set something up if help is needed :D

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Ok so the meet up needs to be before August :) how many people are thinking that the Ren fair is a good place to meet up? What month is best for everyone? Should we all dress up (wear a dress or something with shell belts or other accessories) or wear normal clothes? Etc.

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Well, I have soccer and vacay in August so I agree before then. But maybe a meet up can be at the Ren fair and we can maybe see if we can perform too. Then go to the hotel and swim. But for clothes I say mermaidy. ;)

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

If there are mermaids already there I doubt we could perform unless we contact them and ask if we can help or something. Does anybody know if they are there every weekend and who they are? But I definitely think wearing something mermaidy is a good idea :) my tail by Raven isn't done so I'm worried about making the meet up too early just in case it's not done.

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

I looked up the mermaids and evidently they are called the Blue Mermaids.

[Merrow Erie]

I don't have a tailll but I'd be so down to hang with you guys it's not even funny.

Home is about 20min from Cleveland, school is roughly 45min from Toledo.

[teeth4u]

I totally want to get in on this! I can't wait to meet more mermaids :)

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I looked up the mermaids and evidently they are called the Blue Mermaids.
So any news about this or is it off the board? Lake Erie isn't good to swim in right? And if they allow tails and we can all afford it, Kalahari would be so cool! I mean we could contact them. ;)

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I don't have a tailll but I'd be so down to hang with you guys it's not even funny.

Home is about 20min from Cleveland, school is roughly 45min from Toledo.
Ya that would still be cool. :) we still have to decide in a date and place. Lol

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I totally want to get in on this! I can't wait to meet more mermaids :)
Yay! That's (hopefully) 7! :D

[Morganna]

I'm game! I'm in the same boat as Mermaid Erie though. :( My tail is in the process of being ordered. But I would still love to come hang out and get to know everyone!

[Arella]

I vote the Ren Fair! And I doubt Kalahari would allow it because it's so crowded all the time. Plus the water is really harsh with chemicals. But I would be 100% up for a meet up anyone want to make Facebook group?

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

I really like the idea of meeting at the Ren fair if we can find a place to swim. I'm not good at computers otherwise I'd help with the Facebook page.

[MerGrrl]

So apparently, the first North American BioNova pool will be opening in Minneapolis this summer: http://www.minneapolisparks.org/documents/design/Webber_Park/BioNovaPublicBrochure.pdf

Bio pools are cool. They use plants to filter the water instead of chemicals. This one is supposed to be huge.

I don't know if that's too far out of the way, but it is near FinFolk's headquarters in St. Paul...

[Arella]

I made a page we can plan on : ) Facebook.com/greatlakesmeetup2014


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[Mermaid Caspiana]

I actually have a type of bio pool nearby. Actually 2. One is Clay's Park but you have to wear a life jacket in all but 1 part. I'm sure we could somehow get permission. But the other is called Lake Kim Tam Park. Look them up. :)

[Arella]

That would be cool too I have family over there : )

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I'm game! I'm in the same boat as Mermaid Erie though. :( My tail is in the process of being ordered. But I would still love to come hang out and get to know everyone!

How long do you think it will take to b do, maybe we can plan it in time :)


And to everyone I hope we can do this and hopefully I'll have my sequin (second tail) tail done. :)

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

I think we should make a list of ideas for the meet up and vote :) I'm really hoping this happens I would love to meet everyone!

[Morganna]

How long do you think it will take to b do, maybe we can plan it in time :)


And to everyone I hope we can do this and hopefully I'll have my sequin (second tail) tail done. :)

Mermaid Caspiana, I was going to order from Sirenalia, because on their page they say it is only be 8 weeks, but now they said because of the cold weather it could be up to 3 months. So I am looking around to find somewhere else to order from that won't be too expensive, and hopefully wont take as long. I've also been looking on the classifieds on here, but so far nothing in my size. :(

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I think we should make a list of ideas for the meet up and vote I'm really hoping this happens I would love to meet everyone!
Great idea! Someone could make a list and then put a poll in the great Lakewood forum. :)


Mermaid Caspiana, I was going to order from Sirenalia, because on their page they say it is only be 8 weeks, but now they said because of the cold weather it could be up to 3 months. So I am looking around to find somewhere else to order from that won't be too expensive, and hopefully wont take as long. I've also been looking on the classifieds on here, but so far nothing in my size. :(
I think 8weeks to 3 months isfine. Tho probably won't occur until mid summer. It's up to the weather but that should be good. :)

[Morganna]

AWESOME! I'm so happy now!

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Morganna I'm really glad you can get your tail in time :) I know I've been worried too about my tail not getting done in time!
So far there has been the ideas of
1) going to the Ren Fair and then finding a place to swim.
2) finding an Bio pool and swimming in it.
If I missed any ideas please correct me :)

[Arella]

https://www.facebook.com/greatlakesmeetup2014?ref=hl
I made this page to plan too if it makes it easier for everyone : ) I can delete it if we want to plan another way though : )

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

https://www.facebook.com/greatlakesmeetup2014?ref=hl
I made this page to plan too if it makes it easier for everyone : ) I can delete it if we want to plan another way though : )

Oh I'm sorry! I just don't have a mer Facebook page yet since I don't have a tail and I haven't come out to everyone yet :-/ I can creep on the page and then comment here though! I'd hate for all that effort for a page to be wasted :) thank you for making it

[Arella]

lol its not a problem xD it takes about 2 minutes to make a page :) as far as location for the meet up goes my vote is for the Ren-Fair and then finding a place to swim after

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Really? I still haven't figured out how to make one! I'm horrible with computers :P my vote is also for the Ren Fair I've never been to one and it sounds like fun. Also Arella congrats on the photo shoot tomorrow!

[Morganna]

I have never been to a Ren Fair

[JellyFishForBrains]

Hey guys sorry for just jumping in but Ren Fen would be pretty cool! I'm not sure if the Blue Mermaids will be there again. Two years ago it was Merbellas and last year it was them so seemly changing every year.
I don't have a tail cuz I'm still in the saving up stage. :( But I'd love to join! Only problem is that I may be working at the Ren Fen this year so I don't know if I'll have a free weekend to walk around, etc.

[Mer_Adella]

That's awesome that you work the Ren fair :) I work the Pirate festival in Grand Haven :) Ya I dont know who its going to be this year. I know that Raven had issues two years ago and that Blue Mermaids had issues last year too (mostly technical) so who knows if they are coming back. And if not who is coming this year.

Might i suggest going to the zoo? The detroit zoo has a lot of animals that everyone can walk around and look at (especially the water creatures ;) ) and then a pool afterwards? its just another idea.

[Arella]

Zoo works too : ) I love that zoo plus they have that really neat Polar Bear exhibit

[Mermaid Sirena]

The zoo sounds like a wonderful idea!

[teeth4u]

I'm down for anything! We should definitely swim together at some point too.

[Arella]

Do you guys want to plan on zoo and start looking for a pool and plan a day? I think the zoo would be much easier to plan around; plus maybe we can email the zoo and do some kind of meet and greet there. They're pretty community oriented :)

[Mer_Adella]

Love the idea Arella :) I know that Sirena has used a pool somewhere down in that area with Luna for kid events.

[Morganna]

Which Zoo though?

[Arella]

Detroit Zoo; so should we pick a date and a place to swim? : )

[Morganna]

Absolutely! :) Best way to plan something is to jump in and start planning.
I vote that we plan this as a Friday night through Sunday afternoon type thing as to not interfere with people's jobs.
Normally to set something like that up you speak to the zoo's volunteer services. I've done it once for a I drained so if needed I would be happy to do so again.
Or we could all just go in then put on our tails and have people pull us wagons. That's usually fun. But we'd need people to do the pulling.

[Arella]

They have a polar bear exhibit with an aquarium sort of thing, a penguin house, an otter house, and they have an amphibian house so maybe if we want to do something with the zoo one of those places wouldn't be a bad place to suggest?

[Arella]

Just wanted to bump this...so how about some weekend in June for the Detroit Zoo would that work?

[Mermaid Sirena]

I'm good for the weekend of the 7th in June.

[sashiyoop]

If you guys do the zoo thing in June, I hope you have fun! I'm unfortunately booked until after the 4th of July. :(

[Morganna]

I'm good any weekend as long as I have at least 2 weeks notice. :)

[Mer_Adella]

I wouldn't be able to do the 7th of June. That's bandit camp :) but if that works with everyone else have fun!

[Arella]

What about July 19th Weekend?

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I like the idea of a zoo.
I hope I can go its about a 3 and a half hour drive for me. Like Morgana, I'd need about a 2 week notice. ;)

[Mermaid Caspiana]

So is someone going to contact them about performing? :)

[Morganna]

I will do it as as soon as we pin down a date. As long as nobody else would like to take charge of that? I don't want to just appoint myself if someone else is better qualified. :)

[sashiyoop]

You're plenty qualified.:)
As for dates, why don't we propose some, and then people can comment with which ones they're available for, and we can keep a tally. Whichever date gets the most votes can be the date we meet up.
I'm available for the weekends from July 19-August 23

[Morganna]

Good idea. Like I said, I'm free with a 2 week notice. :) I believe that is the same deal for Mermaid Caspiana. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Mermaid Caspiana]

You are correct, Morganna. The only things that could get in the way are, mom not wanting to take me, soccer, vacation (which if their a meet up down there I will be so happy!), or family things. So it's a bit to early to tell, but hopefully with a two week notice I can come! This makes me so excited! :D

[Arella]

So does the 19th work? Yes no? I wish you could put a poll here lol

[Mer_Adella]

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?7754-Mermaid-Meet-up-Great-Lakes-2014-Poll

heres the poll for us to vote on a date

[Arella]

Super thanks Adella!

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Awesome. I'll see what ma mere thinks. ;D

[Arella]

So it sounds like we're going with the weekend of July 26? And are we still going to the zoo? I'd like to get the ball rolling with planning on this : )

[Morganna]

Sounds good to me. :)

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

So are we not doing anything mer related?

[Arella]

Well the original idea was go to the zoo then go for a swim but we need to find somewhere to swim

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Which zoo is it again, perhaps I can search for places near by and see if they'll allow tails. I know it's difficult to find places that allow things they don't understand and deem a danger or liability

[Mermaid Galene]

Hey, fellow mers, Mermaid Galene here.

I just found this thread, though I did vote in the other about this event. I'm just getting into professional mermaiding and would love to meetup with y'all. I live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

[Arella]

The Detroit Zoo; and maybe even a lake nearby would be a good option? Or a hotel? : )

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Hotels normally rent out their pools so we would have to see how many people are planning on going and split it somehow so that it's fare. Or if it's far enough away for everyone we could all spend the night at the hotel and go to the pool after the zoo. As for lakes that's a good idea as long as it's clean I'll see if I can find anything close by :)

[sashiyoop]

Sounds good. Let us know what you find, and we can go from there.

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Ok so I found that the zoo is closes to Lake Saint Clair and further south is Lake Erie. I also found a few small beach like settings that are small ponds most of which have life guards and concession stands that are popular. I screen shotted a few of them so you all could see the description of them http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/yja3eqyj.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/y2a4edy2.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/ysumuzeq.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/23/yremurup.jpg

[sashiyoop]

The first one sounds the best in my opinion. What does everyone else think?

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

That one is 45 minutes to an hour away from the zoo just so everyone knows

[themnmermaid]

I just found this thread as well, I'm in Minnesota but would love to meet up with other mers. :) I'm also waiting for my tail to come in...

[Arella]

I live over by the zoo so I won't be needing to stay in a hotel but would be happy to pitch in splitting pool costs. Lake St. Clair is really not the cleanest however the St. Clair Metropark has a pool that may work. Belle Isle isn't the safest place to get to you have to drive in some really sketchy areas to get there. The other places I haven't been : )

[Mermaid Isabel(:]

Oh! Since you live so close perhaps you would be the best person to find a place to swim :). I live close to central Ohio so I'm just using the Internet to try and find a place to swim I've never been to any of them.

[Arella]

I really don't know that many places thats the problem :P I did remember a lake kinda far out but I love swimming there I forgot the name but ill let u guys know :)

[Morganna]

Well, anything helps! I'm just SUPER excited!

[sashiyoop]

Yes, please let us know!

If we get a couple places that work and we can't decide on anything, maybe we should do a poll again. It seemed to work very well last time.

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[Arella]

http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/Details.aspx?type=SPRK&id=466
Lakeport Beach : )

[sashiyoop]

Sweet, this looks cool.

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[sashiyoop]

Okay, is this it? Does any one else have any suggestions or concerns?

[Arella]

I think so we just need a time now : ) I'm going to create a Facebook event friend me (Arella Mer) to find it or you may just be able to look it up

[Arella]

https://www.facebook.com/events/789212817765099/?context=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=49

[sashiyoop]

Kay, cool, thanks.

[Kumori Kitsune]

I might be up in st. Joseph sometime this summer

[Kumori Kitsune]

Will most likely be around July 17 or 18 wish I could meet some of you guys you seem nice and Id like to have more friends.

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Okay, so someone needs to post one post with an estimate or exact time, place, and date and such. I'm a bit confused. I hope wherever it is it's clean and not too too far away from me, or my mom might say no when I ask. :)

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Oh! And hey to any of you Great Lake Mers here... I have a kickstarter up, and I really need any help from backing to sharing it. I'm making a fully sequined neoprene tail that I hope to be done this summer. But I only have less than 15 days left. So here it is and all help is greatly appreciated, I also have rewards with the backings. ;)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/835606348/mermaid-caspianas-realistic-sequin-tail
Thanks everyone! <3 You All!

[Kishiko]

If anyone from the Twin Cities area is interested, I am going to be up that way for a wedding around September 6th. I MAY be able to sneak away for a swim (: MAYBE

[Morganna]

Any word on what's going on? :( I'm confused

[Cordelia]

It looks like Arella is hosting a meetup on Saturday, July 26 at 7605 Lakeshore Road in Lakeport, MI. The Facebook event link is https://www.facebook.com/events/7892...ming&source=49 (https://www.facebook.com/events/789212817765099/?context=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=49). So far, it looks like she and Brittany will be there, and the Twin Mermaids, Gemma, and Victoria are down as maybes, and there are a few others who haven't responded to the facebook invites. Here is the link to the website with all of the park's amenities listed: http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandt...pe=SPRK&id=466 (http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/Details.aspx?type=SPRK&id=466)

Arella, do you know what time you are meeting? And, it looks like this is a day trip to the beach, so grab your tails and have some fun!!! That is a six hour drive from where I'm at according to the map. :/ I think I'll think about it as the date draws near. But I hope a few more people sign up and have fun!

P.S. All of this info is on the fb event page, and links and info are also listed in previous posts! :D

[Arella]

I am not sure if I will be there it depends on my work schedule but all that info is stuff decided earlier in the thread I can add someone as an admin to the event if they want to make changes :) I thought the fb event would stream line things but I will do my best to make it and update the event if I end up not being able to attend

[Kumori Kitsune]

We should be up there July 16 to like the 18

[Kumori Kitsune]

I should be in South Heaven tomorrow

[Mermaid Reiko]

I love Kalahari and would love to have a meetup there as well. I'm working on my first fabric tail and I'm super excited about this.

[Arella]

Yah I can't make it now, have a mermaid party but for people who are going have fun!

[Mermaid Caspiana]

I can't come to this one, but maybe later we could have one at Lake Erie, my sister and her boyfriend found an awesome little beach away from the crowd. I'd be nice if we could go there. Hopefully I'll have my fully sequined neoprene tail done by then. I hope to have it done by the time I go to Myrtle Beach, I would like to organize a meet up down there in another thread too. I wish I could come, I want to meet other mers. But have fun everyone going! :)

[Mermaid Reiko]

I sadly am just starting on my first tail and gathering supplies for my Latex tail. I'll have a fabric tail for meets until my latex tail is done n.n

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Well, it's till a tail. ;) Good luck on your latex one. :)

[merstorm]

I am from the chicago burbs love to meet others to trying to find a pool that is mermaid friendly here

[Mermaid Caspiana]

Well guys... we are ordering my neoprene tonight (delayed, I know, money is stupid)!!!!! :) So hopefully this tail is done by summer and maybe, just maybe I could have a silicone one for summer, because my friend and I are in the works of creating a YouTube show... we are taking our time and getting real materials, and hopefully that includes a silicone tail and maybe octo-top. But that's if our Indiegogo that we are also working on, works out. :) :D