A Really Great Gig, and You can help!

[Mermaid Galene]

It's behind you! yay! Hope you get a little recovery time.

[AniaR]

Okay, just had the best sleep ever!!! Time for the recap!!!

So we headed on the drive around 6ish. The temp plummeted to -35C (-31f) over the course of the weekend. I wasn't surprised. We did the whole drive with ice on the inside of the windows. I found out from sitting in the back seat that our door was leaky and I had to wear full parka + snow pants and a blanket + mitts + the heat on to stay warm! Was a long 5 hours lol. There were lots of snow squalls along the way so it made driving there pretty slow.

We arrived at the "hotel" which turned out to be more of a motel, lol. Really tiny, two beds, bathroom, but it did the trick. We were pretty freaking cold and it took the room a while to warm up, so naturally we did this...



I set to work organizing things for the morning, signing photos, while Mutiny fixed up her tail. We recently found out that NO supplier carries the LARGE shell sequins that her tail was made with. We contacted the place they were from before and they were selling them but we just recently contacted them to buy and they no longer have anyone making them. The next size down is considerably smaller ugh. So Mutiny has been hashing it out by moving some scales around, and sewing on smaller scales too. When she was done that she had to sign photos too.

The internet didn't work and we got all of 1 channel on the TV which was kinda funny. We all crashed closed to 1am after getting everything organized, and then were up bright and early for breakfast.

I felt super sick when I woke up and even sicker after breakfast. I've been fighting some sort of stomach thing, so it was off to the drug store for electrolyte drinks and stomach meds. I ended up pretty bloated looking in the photos and I'm fairly sure that's why.

We got to the center, it was a bit smaller than I was expecting from looking online. We'd been told just the night before we'd have access to the entire family change room but that was no longer the case. We ended up taking over the lifeguard storage area (which was super cold) and making mad dashes between it and the bathroom hoping no one saw us.

We surveyed the area. The large pool was salt water, big, lots of natural light, and amazing. the kid's pool was smaller, bromine, smelled a little strong but was still nicer than anything we had back home. The upstairs area where we'd be taking turns sitting, visiting, posing for pics, and handing out treasures was super cute. They had a nail painting station, a coloring station (complete with mermaid coloring pages), a bouncy castle, and a snack station. Then they had tarped all the windows so the light was blue, and had projected beach scenes on to the wall and set up a space for us to sit. They also had a smart board playing this youtube compilation fan made video of me. It was kinda surreal. Super super old videos of me, my sister, some weeki mers, and raven? lol. (I convinced them later to play a newer video, lol)

So we got ready to start.

Mutiny was starting before me with the ages 3-4 group up in that room. So up she went in a wheelchair, kind of adorable.



While she was up there with the first group I warmed up downstairs in the big pool. Sean hopped in to take some gopro footage of me (I'll have that online later) and I really enjoyed warming up in a salt water pool.

Then it was time for my to hop into the little pool. I laid out all the monofins we have and all the tails we have. Big thanks to mermaid mimi and mermaid jamie who made all the tails, and to drake who donated 2 monofins, and for everyone who donated a little bit of $$ so I could pay for the materials for the tails Mimi made, and for the other 3 monofins we bought. The girls were ECSTATIC!

So I went over the rules of using the gear and told Parents this age level should be wearing life jackets. One mom told me her daughter was a good swimmer and she no sooner put the fin on and sank right to the bottom -_- It was a bit of a scare and I got to her before the lifeguard and with the help of another parent Pulled her up. She was upset and shaken so I put her on the edge of the pool, got her a lifejacket, gave her a hug and talked to her for a bit. She was happy to jump back in with a lifejacket once she felt better. It just sucked because it was literally the first 5 seconds of the first group. Gets your adrenaline going kinda hard to calm down.

That first group was awesome. We swam for 45 minutes, they were so cute and just so happy. I got so many hugs and smiley faces and compliments from parents. The parents were super attentive. We did a big group photo at the end and then in came the 4-6 age group. Pretty much a repeat of the first group. Super awesome.

I did the third group to start and then Mutiny took over so I could have a 20 minute break. I took my tail off, crammed some light food in me and loads to drink, walked around and stretched, washed my hair, and then got ready to go again.

I headed upstairs for 3 mire 45 minute sessions with kids. I met with them individually and these were all older kids. They chose treasures from our chest (pirate eye patches, different types of bracelets and hair clips, tattoos and stickers, mermaid hair, gem stones, shells) I gave them a signed photo, posed for individual photos, and did group photos.

While I was doing that, Mutiny was downstairs in the pool with older kids. She worked hard, some kids were in the little pool some in the big. They needed more lifeguards, and we really should of had more mermaids. I guess there were a few kids with behavioural things, and they started pulling off her scales until her merwrangler stepped in. Also, they totally TRASHED our fabric tails which is heart breaking to me. You expect some wear and tear but they def trashed some to the point of not being able to fix em up again. I think we'd need two mermaids for older groups next time. One in the little pool one in the big. It's hard for one mermaid to police the usage of the stuff and encourage respect of the gear with that many kids.

I'm proud of mutiny though, she did her best and having her husband as a merwrangler was super helpful.

So by now it's been almost 6 hours. I have finished upstairs with the kids so Sean wheeled me down. For the final group of older kids (many who brought their own tails) I hit the little pool and Mutiny stayed in the big pol with the underwater cameras. This group was a bit tricky. I let them use the fins and tails but I honestly didnt see any who I felt safe enough to let them go outside the small pool. Some parents got mad I wouldn't let their kids go in the deep pool with the gear but I just kept thinking I didn't want that on my shoulders. So they could be mad. The last group was more independent. I felt like I was more there for show. They wanted to use the gear and just occasionally talked to me lol.

We finished up with a big group photo, got some photos with the staff, and then packed up and waited around for our chance to use the showers.

The staff told me they loved it and wanted to have us back again. I told them for what we offered just this time, we'd have to charge way more and they should be looking at getting sponsors. They agreed. I also said we'd likely need more mermaids and split it up between two days so it would be a bit more that way too. They asked me for feedback so I gave it haha.

I'm going to do up an email for it, on pearlie's suggestion, but also their request.

I think it went as good as it could for the way it was set up. Things to change for next year:

-split the days, half the group one day, half the group the next
-community vollunteers
-more mermaids (at LEAST one more if not two) so we have one in each pool
-closer hotel, stay for two nights
-them cover the total cost of tails and fins since the gig pretty much destroys them
-more lifeguards
-clearer rules to parents (I do think they tried to do this, but we ended up enforcing it a lot on our own)
-cover all our meals
-more pay for us, like by a lot. We charged 400$ which meant we each got 100$ for 6 hours+ of work and the cost of materials and food. Even for 4 people for one day charging 1000 only sees us each getting 250 for a day of work + everything else. So I am thinking 2-3000 for a weekend with 5-6 people, and them covering the cost of the materials. We'd help them obtain sponsorship as well.

I want to say a HUGE thank you to those of you who donated along the way. You helped me cover the many expenses. Also, these last few days those of you who sent money helped me pay for all our food which I super super super appreciated. I did not want my other mermaid to be paying for her and her husband's food out of their pay money when they had generously offered to do it for so low a pay. I think as the boss it's my responsibility to take that hit. But I'll admit it was super stressing me out. I have a lot of unexpected but necessary expenses this month including 500$ for oral surgery. YOU MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE FOR US. It actually made us super teary. I was able to break even for the most part, and buy our food. We had a nice dinner before returning home last night. I just cant even express how much it meant to us. <3

We have already been swarmed with positive feedback on FB. Loads of happy families leaving us wonderful messages. <3

It is going to take a while to go through all the photos and video but I have a couple up I can show you:

Our youngest participant who cried anytime she was taken away from the mermaids...



Mutiny meets 1:1 with a little girl



Mutiny and I took a stretch after the 6+ hours





I'll be working on the photos today and the videos. So I'll be sure to upload em and post a link here. I am also going to do a big blog post about it and I'd like to link to and thank individuals who made donations and helped make this work. The only thing is the way paypal is and the amount of money people sent- I can't tell which was for this and which was people buying workshops LOL. So please, dont feel shy about IDENTIFYING YOURSELF in this thread and showing me where you'd like me to link to~ our website gets loads of traffic- let me send some your way <3 <3 <3

[AniaR]

Here's a sweet girl in one of the tails Jamie donated.



Heres two girls (look at their shirts!) in tails I commissioned from Mimi

[Mermaid Ciela]

Hi Raina, I saw something about this on your facebook page and only just saw this thread. Would it be okay if I sent you a donation now, after the fact? I love that you went to all that trouble to support such a great cause but totally feel for all of the struggles you and Mutiny faced, so I'd be happy to help you out a bit if I could. I'll check out the link you posted a while back and donate through there!


Sent from the engineering wonder that is my shellphone using Tapatalk

[Mermaid Galene]

Thanks for sharing the details! Really fun to read. For such a massive undertaking, it sounds like it went really well. Congratulations, and glad I could help!

[AniaR]

Thank you so so so so much!!!!

Here's another shot!

[Merman Arion]

Hi Raina, I saw something about this on your facebook page and only just saw this thread. Would it be okay if I sent you a donation now, after the fact? I love that you went to all that trouble to support such a great cause but totally feel for all of the struggles you and Mutiny faced, so I'd be happy to help you out a bit if I could. I'll check out the link you posted a while back and donate through there!

I just donated. I apologize for being late.

[AniaR]

Under "contact us" on www.halifaxmermaids.com at the very bottom is a "leave a tip" button people can use thanks everyone!

Here are about 1/2 the photos. Mutiny has the other half and they'll be uploaded later. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...9217858&type=1

Some of my favs, mostly all unedited:

I was mainly with the younger smaller groups.

One little girl gets super happy after touching the tail



The setup upstairs:






Getting everything organized when the first little girl wandered out




Getting a hug



too cute



Getting ready to try a monofin



High fiving the little girl who had fallen in earlier but was brave enough to try again



Pleased as punch




Asking her about feet



Trying out the fin with a little help



Making a splash with the tots



real cuties



ready to get in



going over the rules with a new group



happy trying on tails



too cute



going for rides



we had the odd little boy who was a sibling come, here is one saying "whooaa!"



keeping the mermaid wet, lol



happy swimmer



having a splash



A whole pod of merlings



doubled up hehe







Soooo happy



group hug!



Another cute group



fish lips!!!



more girls, ready and waiting...



time for a swim by!



cuties



handing out treasures



Under da sea



say "sea weed!"



don't you wanna go to the beach?



looking for treasure





one of my favourite shots!



lots of colouring



more kids lined up and waiting



watching from above



my eldest fan who came out, we met her once before at a hotel over a year ago she was too cute. brought her own finfun tail



with a cute little family



this baby loved mermaids



trying to decide between the pools



going over rules



yay baby



underwater camera fun



Sean doing the usual... lol



wooo



fish face!



fins up!



our buddy







After 6+ hours we were pretty tired hehe

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

Im sorry it was so stressful for you guys! But at least its over, and im not 100% on this but you might be able to get a tax write off for the difference between what you got paid and what you would normally charge. Technically its a charitable donation. Im not sure of the laws out there on the subject but its worth checking into.

Too bad the tails didnt last or that some arent fixable. But those happy faces are wonderful to see! Im glad I could help a lil bit. glad you feel better after a much needed sleep!

[MerEmma]

What a beautiful gig--I'm so happy for all those girls who got to participate. They did a great job of setting up the blue room too; it looks so peaceful in front of the projection. I hope next year goes even more successfully! I think you did a wonderful job with all of them.

Just curious, was there any particular reason all the little girls wore swim caps? I haven't seen that many swim caps anywhere but swim meets, haha. :P

[AniaR]

Im not sure I think it was pool policy cuz everyone but us had them

[MerEmma]

Huh, that's kind of a weird policy. Guess the mermaids get an exception. :P

[QueenZero]

You go, Raina, Mutiny, Merwranglers! Those kids look so happy. Hopefully next time the whole thing will be easier on the mers.

[AniaR]

The radio interview we gave is up. Of course you talk for an hour and only little clips make it in. They made two mistakes, while Mutiny and I both have degrees from the same school she doesnt have the same as me and is actually higher level, lol. Also our education workshops aren't next month, they're in March. http://tinyurl.com/lump28q
Scroll to 22:56 for the clip.

[AniaR]

Video 1 is up, see more soon

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Awww, so awesome!

[Prairie Mermaid Jamie]

All the feels!
Thats a wonderful video.

[AniaR]

I strongly believe that mermaid swimming is a powerful tool to help young girls everywhere. Girls do not experience physical fitness in society in the same way that boys do. More and more studies are showing the need to encourage girls in physical fitness and help them overcome issues of body image and societal perception. Last year our company worked an amazing workshop for Girl's Empowerment. The mermaid community helped make that happen. We are doing it again in 2016, and we'd love your help. Please take a minute to read the info in this thread. We'd love your help to make a difference for young girls! http://mernetwork.com/index/showthre...178#post225178