Pictures from the 1999 Atlanta Airedale Party

Well (apologies all around) it took long enough, but here are the long-promised pictures from Merlin and Sarah's 1999 Atlanta Airedale Party. Unfortunately Merlin (or was it Sarah?) accidentally ate the list of attendees along with many of the nametags, the guest book, and the like, so most of these pictures will be (unforunately) uncaptioned.

In attendance were Merlin and Sarah (of course) with their upright, Bill, Cathy, and Nicholas. Also Rita, Ellie (birthday girl! it was her first birthday), and the legendary Photon. In addition we had Otis and Milo with Shirley (along with her friend and her daughter). Tom Sawyer and Fiona (honorary ADT, but looking remarkably like a Fox Terrier) brought their upright, Saray, Bill, and little girls Grace and Emma. Toby brought Jessica and a friend. Brannigan brought his three upright along. Susan Olsen made it, but had to leave before any of the other upright got there. (And unfortunately, my memory undergoes core meltdown at this point -- if other attendees will write me, I will update this list to show an accurate attened list -- sorry)

The party was held at (of course) Merlin and Sarah's house, and in all there were 13 dales, one wire-haired fox terrier and one kerry blue terrier in attendance (although he had to leave before anyone else got there as I remember). Here are the pictures which I took and/or other folks have sent to me for this web page.

In general, you might want to consider ALL of the pictures on this page to be the "outtakes" from the party. However, as there weren't any pictures other than these outtakes, Merlin and I decided to put all of them on the page. (OK, I admit it -- about 25 or so shots were so bad we didn't dare include them... fuzzy closeups of big, black, plastic noses, the blurred finish to the race aound the coffee table, etc...)

BTW, many places through here I have used "?" to indicate that I don't know who someone or somedale is... a clever contrivance, to be sure. But if you can fill me with names, please write me (see below). Thanks.


Early arrivals	?, ?, ?, and Nicholas	Cathy & Fiona	Photonp>

Merlin (left) Rita (right)	?	Nicholas with ? & ?	Nicholas with Merlin

Photon (I think)	Gena Nichloas, Rita, ? and ?	Merlin and Sawyer	The "infamous" ADT cake

Sawyer, Rita, Merlin, Sarah, others ?	Shirley, friend, ?, Cathy, Otis, Milo, Fiona, Merlin, Sawyer, Fiona	Merlin, Sawyer, ?, Fiona, ? (same upright as pervious picture)	Tom Sawyer (sorta' outta' focus)

Gena, Merlin, Rita, Ellie, and ?	Beggars or thieves - you decide	Fiona	Photon - Center Stage!

Group shot. 8 ADT's + 10 upright. None of them held still.	More group shot meyhem...	Another vain attempt to set up for a group shot	Eyeing the hooman food...

Hoomans ignoring hungry ADTs. Not smart.	Merlin finally finds a cool spot	Can you count 7 begging ADT's in this picture?	Merlin, Photon and ?

Photon, deciding what to beg for next.	Sawyer, Merlin and ?	Another group shot: ?, Sarah, Milo, ?, Fiona, Merlin, Sawyer, Sarah, Rita, ? and upright	Yet another group shot: 10 ADT's, 1 WHFT, lots of uprights

Ditto	And you thought you'd seen all of the group shouts	Hey, our group is shrinking	Shrinking, no. Disintegrating, maybe.

?, ?, Fiona, Merlin, ?, and Bill	(Sorry, I can't identify anybody in this one except Fiona)	Merlin, conning someone into an ear rub	The cake, before the attack of the uprights and dales

Fiona reqested her own chair	Yes, this is how you teach them to beg. (And you thought it was instinct...)	The begging lesson continues	? and ?

Shirley's daughter, Shirley, Gena, Bill, Otis, Milo, Rita, Photon, Merlin, and ?	The same cast of characters as the last shot	Oops, we lost one....	OK, maybe if we all sit down, the ADT's will pose. Wrong.

The closest this group got to a "pose" ... then we gave up.	? and Cathy, Sarah (the ADT's are finally wearing down...)	Gena, birthday girl Ellie (or is this Rita?), and Bill	Shirley, Merlin and Bill

Beginning the race around the coffee table...	I can run faster than you can!	Coming back from the first lap of the race...	An exhausted Sarah, resting on an equally-tired Nicholas

Whaddaya mean I blinked in the first picture???	Merlin finds a better place to rest as the party winds down	Another tired ADT	Photon says, "This is my spot. Touch it and die."

OK, I'll just rest over here...	Sarah drops in her tracks, too...	I'm pooped, mom. Can we sleep now? Pleeeeese?	Get this leash offa me and I'll show you a race around the table you wouldn't believe...

OK, I'm being good, and I know you have cookies up there. So.....	The race restarts... In slow motion, though.	Isn't the dining room over this way somewhere?	Milo and Otis with 2 of their loyal uprights.

Sarah hears the word "cookie"!!!!!!	I wanna go home now!	No, maybe I'll just go get some of that cake.	Sarah and Cathy ("Mommy, please get me some cake, too!")

What was finally left of the cake

Well, that's all of the pictures we have collected from the 1999 party (apologies for the quality on several of the pictures) -- Merlina and Sarah really hope you enjoyed the pix.

If you'd like to come to next year's party, please write to Bill at waustin@speakeasy.net and let him know ... and an invitation and directions, etc. will be on their way for the party next spring...