Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Hope. Love. Home. Sanctuary

northwest

Burrito’s journey with you

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A lot of you began following the story of the Cle Elum Seven even before their arrival to the sanctuary in June, 2008.  I was thinking today about how far we’ve come together. I started to think about Burrito.

This is for friends old and new.

Burrito was the first one to be moved from the truck that took the chimps from the basement laboratory in Pennsylvania to his new sanctuary home.

burrito's cage coming off of truck

 

Everything was new to him

Burrito when he first arrived

 

We soon discovered his passion for all food

burrito eating pomegranate

 

Not always brimming with confidence, he was the most anxious when the chimps were given access to the steel outdoor area shortly after their arrival. And in 2010, after the greenhouse panels were put up for the winter, he went through a period when he seemed anxious about being in the greenhouse. But he overcame whatever was holding him back.

burrito toy in mouth in the greenhouse

And now look at him

burrito foraging in grass

burrito pilo youngs hill

If you live anywhere within a 300 mile radius (or larger) of Seattle, I hope that you’ll join us at the Out of the Box auction on Friday.  Join 200 other Burrito fans – there are still some tickets available. Along with the great auction items, including exclusive “chimp stuff” (like Jamie’s hand-colored mask I forgot to include in my post yesterday), we’ll be celebrating the journey of Burrito and all of the Cle Elum Seven. It will be a magical evening – I guarantee it.

A Few of the Out of the Box Art Pieces

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Only a few days left to get tickets to Out of the Box 2011!

We have some really tremendous art in the auction this year! Big thanks to Jessie Johnson who headed up the art procurement. She and all procurement volunteers really outdid themselves this year.

These are just a few pieces:

Cosca I is a signed and numbered limited edition serigraph (certification included) by Victor Varsarely, leader of the Op-Art movement. It will be in “Negra’s Favorite Things” section of the silent auction. You can download a full list of silent auction items and preview live auction items on our auction preview page.

Cosca I

 

We have a few quilts in the auction this year – each one unique. One, made by Jodi Davila, is in the online auction. See her blue and yellow quilt and browse all online auction items (still more to add).

Here’s a gorgeous quilt that will be in the the “Annie & Missy: Girls Just Want to Have Fun” section of the silent auction in Seattle. The quilt was lovingly handmade by blog reader Annie Nordmark and is called Squares ²:

Squares 2 quilt

 

Tamela has made some  gorgeous necklaces this year. Two of them, Mr. B and In the Wild are in the online auction and two are in the Seattle auction.

Below is Tamela’s Miss Missy, which is also in the “Annie & Missy: Girls Just Want to Have Fun” section of the silent auction in Seattle:

Miss Missy

 

We have some amazingly talented supporters and volunteers! Here is a photo of a mirror with a beautiful hand-painted frame made by Volunteer Stephanie Perciful. You’ll find it in the “Burrito’s Corner” section of the silent auction (Burrito LOVES Stephanie):

Stephanie's mirror

 

Volunteer Seana Blake has created one-of-a-kind three-dimensional collages using enrichment well-loved by the chimpanzees (and one piece she created from discarded fence construction bits and other pieces of found metal objects).

There are five pieces by Seana total. I can’t decide what my favorite is, but it might be the one below called “Trolls are Delicious.” This will be up for bid, where else but the “Trollin’ with Foxe” section of the silent auction:

Trolls are Delicious

 

Margaret Parkinson has donated several prints of her artwork this year, including one print of her now famous Negra in the Sun (the original painting sold at the 2009 auction). You’ll find this in the “Trollin’ with Foxie” section of the silent auction too. And you can find a couple of other prints by Margaret in the online auction.

Negra in the sun framed

 

And speaking of this image, just added to the CSNW store is the greatest sweatshirt ever made. It’s a unisex hoodie made by Alternative Earth and is super-soft, mega-comfortable and has an image taken from the same photograph that inspired Margaret’s painting above. It’s not as gorgeously colorful as Margaret’s, but it’s pretty cool. The company that makes the blank sweatshirts, Alternative Apparel, retails them for $50, so getting the sweatshirt with Negra’s image for the same price is a bargain! Buy one now – you don’t want to go through the fall months without one of these hoodies – trust me. Here’s a photo of Sarah wearing a size medium:

 

The Scale of Things

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If you watched the raw video on the KOMO News site, you heard both J.B. and I remark on how small everyone looked on Young’s Hill when they went out. I thought I’d show a few photos that capture that.

Missy on climbing structure
Missy sitting by hammock

 

Negra at a distance on hill
Negra on log path

 

Burrito in the distance young's hill
Burrito in the distance

The chimps weren’t on the hill today. A couple of bugs in the system presented themselves the other day. J.B. is waiting on some parts to make sure things are running 100% smoothly and is making some other additions while he’s waiting. Since the fence is new to us and to the chimps, we’re being overly cautious and not letting the chimps back on the hill until we have everything worked out. They should be back out early next week. The weather’s been kind of drizzly anyway, so the chimps don’t seem too put off by having some rain days inside and in the covered outdoor area.

We took a LOT of photos and some video over the last week- so we’ll keep sharing!

KOMO 4 News Broadcast

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Watch the broadcast footage that was aired on Seattle’s KOMO News last night and will air again tonight at 6pm: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/130546448.html

Thanks to Eric Johnson for reporting and Eric Jensen and Sara Givens for filming!

 

P.S. J.B. Mulcahy hasn’t changed his last name – it was just a little mistake. We are married, but have different last names.

Out of the Box Auction Preview

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Tickets are still available for the 2011 Out of the Box auction. We won’t be selling tickets at the door, so you really need to get yours now! This event is going to be so amazing!

Preview the live auction items, download a list of all the silent auction items, and register for the online auction on the auction preview page.

I’m loving the live auction line-up we have this year! – there’s definitely something for everyone  – from the Burrito special-label wine to getaways to Best Friends Sanctuary, Hawaii, New Zealand, California, Colorado, Fiji and the UK plus one and two night stays at hotels in Seattle, Vancouver and Portland.  All that and gift certificates for some of the best restaurants in Seattle, a year of tickets to the Showbox, plus three unique, limited edition hardback books of photos of the Cle Elum Seven. In addition to the Fund-a-Need to raise money for the medical clinic, we’ll also have an opportunity to “adopt” the CSNW caregivers.

And that’s just part of the live auction! The silent auction is just as exciting, with one-of-a-kind art pieces, tickets to Disneyland, a brand new red electric guitar, jewelry, wine, Segway tours, yoga, kayaking, spas, massage, LUSH gift boxes, tickets to concerts and concert venues, more restaurant gift certificates and much, much more. Check it all out on the preview page.

 

el san juan

Kensley Lodge

showbox

nest book