Wool, Wool and Wool

Just returned from Monterey, Ca.  With weather  in the 50s and 60s, windy with some light drizzle.  It’s a typical Monterey weather but it sounds like heaven comparing to the intense heat in most part of the country.  

There are wool breed and wool breed and wool breed in the photos, what happened?   Stay tuned. 

 

Princess Ga Ga Back to Shows

Chu's Princess Ga Ga is 3-1/2 years old, she’s mom to Chu's Aurelia and her brothers.  Aurelia is one of the multi Best In Show winners and the reigning number 1 English Angora Rabbit of the Year.  

 

Princess Ga Ha is also the mom of Chu's Alfie who was featured two days ago and also the grandma of Chu's Autumn Beauty and Chu's Autumn Delight, the English Angora BOB and BOSB at the Angora National at Reno in May.   

Who says English Angoras cannot regrow s good coat? Princess Ga Ga is back in shows to support her children and grandchildren with a beautiful regrown coat.   She may not be able to compete with her granddaughter Autumn Beauty but she will definitely give a good try.

 

Introducing Raecelia

Raecelia is a little girl.  

Raecelia will be making a debut this weekend at the show. 

She does not expect to win anything but wanting to have fun. 

Her mom Raelynne, big sisters Raeanna and Raeberta all have done well in shows, winning a combination of close to 30 Best In Shows.  Raecelia hopes to follow their steps down the road. 

 

Meet Cousins Riley and Alfie

Here is Riley, an English Angora tort junior buck.

Riley has gone to the Alameda Fair.

Riley has a lot of fun going to the fair.

Cousin Alfie also went to the fair with Riley.

Alfie is a chocolate tort junior buck.

Alfie is one day younger than Riley but weighs a few ounces more.  Which one do you like?

 

What Are These? New Breed?

An Angora?

A Lop?

They are very cute, looks like a small English Angora with flopped ears.

Just a reminder, flopped ears are not acceptable in the English Angora breed standard, it's one of the disqualifications.

The owner of these cute little rabbits is Linda Hibbert on the very left.  She said she mixed English Angora, Lionhead, American Fuzzy Lop and .... that created these small lop ear rabbits that have the English Angora furnishings and wool texture but with down ears.   She and her friends/judges are trying to think of a name for the breed.  Tentatively it was "Western Wooly Lop".  As of now, there is no COD so it is not a breed that can be exhibited in an ARBA show.   

 

Cindy Wickizer Remembered

Sad news came in that Cindy Wickizer passed away on July 13, 2026.   

Cindy was definitely a friend of Angoras. See Northern California Angora Guild: Judge Cindy has a Long History with the Angora.   She judged Angoras at the ARBA conventions 4 times: 1979, 1991, 2003 and 2008.   She judged Angora Nationals 4 times as well: 1986, 1990, 1998 and 2002. Out of the 8 times Cindy judged the major Angora shows, I was present in 7 out of 8 shows, the only one that I missed was 1979 as it was before my time.   

Cindy judges Angora at the 1979 ARBA convention.  Photo from Candy Haenszel's collection. 

  

I was lucky to have met Cindy in very early years of my English Angora journey.    In December 1985, English Angora tort senior doe Chu's Erica won my first ever Best In Show in an ARBA show.  At the time, all shows were single shows, there were over 1,800 rabbits in the showroom held at the Cal Expo.  And that was the first time I met Cindy, she was the Best In Show judge, and that was one of my most memorable show wins.   Wish I had a photo with her but it was not customary to have photos taken with the judge after a win.

In 1986 I ventured out of state to attend the Angora National in Washington state, Cindy judged:   Northern California Angora Guild: Remember When: Angora National in 1986

There were only 2 Angora breeds: English Angora and French Angora; Giant Angora and Satin Angora were yet to be recognized.  There were 250 English Angoras and 150 French Angoras at the showroom.  I was very lucky that my tort junior doe Chu's Vanessa was picked as the Best In Show at the 1986 Angora National.   

At the 1990 Angora National in Ventura, CA, Cindy once again judged.  By then there were 4 breeds of Angoras but the majority of the numbers were still in the breeds of English Angora and French Angora.   My white doe Chu's Jasmine was lucky to have been chosen as the Best In Show. See:
Northern California Angora Guild: Remember When: Angora National 1990


The next year, Cindy judged Angoras at the 1991 ARBA convention at Pomona, CA.   My doe Chu's Sweety Pie won BOB and my junior buck won BOSB.  There was no photo taken with Cindy but there were some photos of the rabbits and prizes in Northern California Angora Guild: Remember When: 1991 ARBA Convention Show Results and Prizes

1992 was a big year for Cindy who was elected ARBA president in 1989 and was re-elected into her second term.  Cindy was the first and only woman to have taken the position of ARBA president.   It was also a big year for the English Angora that became the first wool breed rabbit to have won a Best In Show at the ARBA convention.  The name of the Best In Show winner was Chu's Sweet Sixteen.   At that time, the honor and the trophy was awarded at the ARBA banquet, Cindy awarded me the Best In Show trophy on the stage.    It had been reported that Cindy liked to hold on to other's hand when she talked.  As you could see, that's what she was doing.   You can also see my happy face.   Wish that Chu's Sweet Sixteen was in the picture but rabbits were not welcome at the banquet.    Northern California Angora Guild: Convention Memories: 1992 ARBA Convention Best In Show

The next two Angora Nationals were held in 1998 at Reno and 2002 in Oregon, Cindy judged both.  1998 Best In Show winner was my blue doe Chu's Julia and 2002 Best In Show winner was my white doe Chu's Charlize.   No picture was taken in 1998, only 3 pictures taken in 2002: Northern California Angora Guild: Remember When: 2002 Angora National in Oregon

Next two ARBA conventions that Cindy judged were in 2003 and 2008.  

Cindy picked my tort buck Chu's Ashton as the BOB at the 2003 ARBA convention and Ashton went on to win the Group.    See Northern California Angora Guild: Convention Memories: More about the 2003 ARBA Convention Group Winner

At the 2008 convention in Louisville, KY, Cindy judged Angoras for the last time.   My white buck Chu's Nolan was the lucky BOB winner.  Unfortunately no photo taken with Cindy.   

Cindy also came to CA to judge our local shows quite a bit.  It was always a treat to have spent time with her and had her judging Angoras.  

 

This is my last photo taken with Cindy at the 2017 ARBA convention in Indianapolis.  More than 30 years I had the privilege of calling Cindy a friend,  a fellow teacher,  an excellent judge, a friend of the Angoras and gotten the chance to learn from her.  Thank you Cindy Wickizer for the great memories, will miss you.    

 

Meet English Angora Breeders from Colorado

At WCC/Angora National, we got to meet several English Angora breeders from Colorado. 

Holly Tracy with her English Angora colored senior buck.

Graham Thomas with his English Angora colored senior doe.

Linda Hibbert with her English Angora colored junior doe.  Linda also has American Fuzzy Lop.

Andrea Evan and Kathy Thomas with their roaring English Angora white senior doe.
Andrea has taken over the NARBC president's job after the Angora National.  

 

Rachel and Her Angora National Best In Show Rabbit

We have a few more photos from the Angora National during the WCC in May that have not been shared.    Here are some more photos of Rachel with her French Angora that won the Angora National Best In Show and also the Open Show A Best In Show and Open Show B Reserve In Show.   Enjoy.

 

Concluding the Angora Demo at the Alameda Fair

The small animal managers are Dolores Morris and Ray Stacy.   Dolores opens the building in the morning, directs the staffs and volunteers to clean the building, to feed the animls and to clean the cages.  Ray comes in the early afternoon, coordinates with Dolores.  Dolores gets off before dinner and Ray stays all the way until the fair closes, then closes off the building and makes sure all the staffs and volunteers get their job done and leave safely.   It's a long day, before 8 am to after 11 pm.   Two of them coordinate and work well together.

Ray enjoys seeing Carol and Betty and their Angora display.  If you notice that Benji is kinda naked.   He received a haircut during the demo.   He is ready to enjoy his summer cut and maybe he will be lucky enough to meet a girlfriend.  When the heavy coat is off, it's time to be sexy!

Meet one of the young staff members Nathan.  Nathan is very interested in crafty things, he asks a lot of questions and gets two skeins of Angora yarns from Betty.   Maybe we'll get an Angora exhbitor and/or spinner/knitter in the future?

It has been a fun day.  It's late in the afternoon, Carol and Betty are ready to go home.   The red shirt is a fair staff and the blue shirt is a fair volunteer, they help to pull Carol and Betty's demo material back to the parking lot.  Betty is following them to make sure nothing falls off the carts, and taking this photo. 
Until next year, rabbit show and demo!

 

 

Farm Equipment Exhibit at Alameda Fair

Next to the model train exhibits, there are farm equipment exhibit.  Some new, some old.  

 

Model Train Exhibit at Alameda Fair

During the demo, Carol and Betty take turns to have a bit of break to use the restroom and get food and drink.   Next to the small animal barn is the a model train exhibit.   These look real and look like pictures taken at real train stations.  Nope, these are very small model trains and make believe tracks and landscape.   The trains actually move by remote control.