Thank You Thank You Thank You!

RushCon 9 is in the books.

It's been a over 3 weeks and we are still recovering. Going through all the photos, tallying up all the totals, unpacking, and sadly getting back to real life.

The weather was not on our side, but while the rain tried to dampen our spirits, nothing could keep us down.

Thursday July 23, 2009
We all gathered for a team meeting at McVeighs pub, in downtown Toronto. (One of MANY pubs we would be frequenting this weekend.)

And then, as the clock struck 9pm, the place burst at the seams with many of the other con-goers all at once. It was a giant family reunion. It was so awesome to see everyone again, and it always seems like it was just a few months ago that we descended on Toronto. Who could believe it had been a year?

Friday July 24th, 2009
The BBQ on the island was an adventure. It stormed and stormed, but then the Rush gods smiled upon us and brought clear skies (complete with a rainbow!).

We had some epic noms, played some games, and capped of the night with the musical stylings of Robert, leading the outdoor sing along.

Saturday July 25th, 2009
Saturday started off with a bang with a challenging round of Countdown. Congrats to Dave M. our winner who held on till the very end.

We then played a nerve-wracking game of Jeopardy with scores racing in every direction.

But Girl power prevailed, and Amanda beat out all the boys.

Some virtual bands got to rock out to Rock Band and played some tunes from Moving Pictures on the big screen. (Thanks to Harmonix for the game donation.)

We were then treated to a spellbinding presentation by the now infamous Michael Mosbach. He illuminated us with many tales, photos and behind the scenes hijinx.
A really excellent presentation that left everyone on the edges of their seats and mesmerized.

The evening continued over at C'est What where we had our annual karaoke contest. Many unique performances, to say the least.

Our winner was Lisa, who did a stellar job.

Limelight proceeded to rock our socks off. The club was intimate, but it made it all the better. We were all singing in each other's faces, which was a really special experience for both the band and the fans. Thanks so much to Limelight for blowing us away as always.

The night remained young and the partying did not stop.

Sunday, July 6th 2009

Sunday morning we were greeted with more rain, but heck, some of us stunk by that point anyway... so it was all for the best. We headed down to Anthem for a glimpse at all the fabulousness that adorns the walls and shelves in their office.

Back at RushCon headquarters, Martin Popoff illuminated us as to the progress of the Sam Dunn directed Rush Documentary. Making us drool with hints of all the found footage and unearthed Rush gems that we will get to see on the big screen in the spring. Martin also fielded a lot of questions as to Rush's standing in rock history and what other musicians had been interviewed for this film.

We finished the day with our Memoribilia auction. We made over $4500 that day, and cleared the $50,000.00 mark for overall RushCon donations to the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto. This is an epic achievement for Rush fans, and we should all be proud.

We sold a lot of artwork this year, but the marquee item was an autographed hard cover copy of RoadShow, personalized to the winner, from one Mr. Neil Peart.. Our little RushGirl Bev of COURSE took that gem home. Congrats on the killer win. :)

The weekend capped off with the pub crawl and many adventures through out the streets of Toronto.

The experience of Rushcon is hard to put into words. It started as a small little dream, and continued to be our little project, but it has grown into such a wonderful, FUN event.

It is so touching to see all the faces over the years, meeting new friends, reconnecting with old ones. It's wonderful to know that we have a network of close friendships spanning the globe, just because of our chance discovery of some little Canadian band at some point in our lives. Yes, Rushcon is the celebration of that thread we share, but it's grown to be so much more than that. It's family. And I am counting the seconds until next year. See you soon!

Extra thanks to Jeremy, Booter, Robert, Steve, Todd and Max for all your help on scene. And Kam and Phred in there for all their hard work and help during the auction!
We couldn't do it without all of you!

Much appreciation to Anthem Records for their continued support and generosity.

And special thanks to Michael and Martin. YOU were our rock stars this weekend. Thanks for everything.

Much Love, Judy, Jillian, Eddy, Holly, Mary Jo and Kristy.

Photo Credits: Barney_rebel, Jessica Winkworth, Seji, and Tom (Bastille Night)