Wednesday, May 18, 2016

HELLO!

This is my very first posting on my very first blog and I have to say I am excited and a little nervous!  If you are interested at all in the idea of bigfoot, then I hope you will find my blog informational and inspirational.  For those who don't know me, I am a 12 year old boy who lives in New York.  I have had a growing interest in bigfoot for about 5 years.  My interest really started to grow when I did a science fair project in 4th grade on bigfoot sightings in New York state, since then, things have really taken off for me! 

4th Grade Science Fair!

In 2014 I was diagnosed with Lyme disease that included a bout with Bell's palsy (I had to sleep with a patch over my eye to hold it down so I could sleep for weeks - I no longer thought pirates were cool after this).  I was pretty sick for a few months.  In March of 2015, about the time that I was finally feeling better I broke my arm (this was the second time I had broken the same arm because of a unicameral bone cyst in that arm - no baseball season for me that year).  On my 11th birthday my parents surprised me with a trip to the Ohio Bigfoot Conference at Salt Fork State Park in Ohio - they said after the year I had that they wanted to do something extra special - little did I know that it would be a life changing event! 

My 11th Birthday Present!

Ohio Bigfoot Conference
May 2015


What can I say about the Ohio Bigfoot Conference - I am not sure I can put into words what an amazing event this is!  Salt Fork is an awesome park - beautiful scenery and incredible wildlife.  The vendors at the conference are so talented and the movies that have been shown there are extremely entertaining and enlightening.  The lectures that are given at this conference are phenomenal, given by world class researchers - I have learned so much from them (shhh!  don't tell them but I have taped every single one and have listened to them over and over again).  While all of these parts of the conference are incredible they are not what makes this event.  What makes this event are the people.  They are friendly, caring and kind.  My first year at the conference the organizers went above and beyond to welcome me, they may not realize it but they all have had a positive impact on my life!  I have just returned from my second year at the conference (which I will be sharing in my next post) and it was just as incredible as last year!
 
I have attended a couple of other events and conferences - the Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo in Chautauqua, NY and the Beast of Whitehall premier in Whitehall, NY and have continued to make new friends and learn more and more.  I have heard people make jokes about "bigfooters" but I have never known a more genuine group of people. 

Chautauqua Lake Bigfoot Expo - October 2015

Beast of Whitehall Premier
Whitehall, NY
April 2016
So that is my journey so far!  I have been learning as much as I can from books, lectures, podcasts and documentaries. I also have been completing more research projects. I will be sharing these resources and my thoughts on them along with my research in this blog.  I also have made some great friendships over the past few years and there are some that I would certainly consider mentors.  I will be sharing their advice and some of the experiences I have shared with them throughout this blog as well! 
 
Mr. Bob Gimlin and myself at the Ohio Bigfoot Conference

So this is my first post - if you have any advice on this blog stuff I could use all the help I can get and  if you were wondering about my blog's name it comes from this: I am a 12 year old kid with a passion for possibilities so "Squatch and See" what is to come!

20 comments:

  1. I love this Cal great job!!

    Love,

    Christie and uncle Mike

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  2. Great 1st post Cal. I'll share this on my blog!

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  3. I was also at the OBC this year- my first time! I will love to hear what you have learned about Bigfoot and to follow your Bigfoot Adventures.

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    1. It is an awesome time - I already can't wait until next year! New post will be coming soon!

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  4. Cal, I think you are the coolest! I am going to follow your blog and see if you can turn me into a believer!
    Karyn Ripley

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  5. Hey Cal. Crypto-Paracon is over and my left over books are being shipped here to Florida. As soon as they get here, I'll send you my book. It chronicles my experiences from being a total non-believer to a knower in a very short time span. I hope you'll enjoy it.

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    1. I can't wait to read it! Thank you very much!

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  6. Great job Cal... keep up the great work and I will be following what you accomplish!!!!

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  7. Hi Cal, see you had fun in Ohio. I asked your mom if you could come and speak at the bigfoot festival in old forge ny, I am hoping you can. Steve Kulls,Brian Gooselin, Bill Brann, myself and a few others will be there to help you .. its going to be a fun event and it will give you a chance to do what you love.. I see your going to be a big name someday in the bigfoot world so keep blogging and hope to see you Aug 13 in Old Forge

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    1. Thanks Mr. Aldrich - my mom is going to try to call you tonight to talk about Old Forge.

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  9. Hello Cal! I remember you from last years (2015) Ohio conference. Who could forget. Can I be honest? Im a 56 year old man and had tears of pride that day-proud to be part of a community that recognizes young men like yourself. It was awesome. I walked out of that conference room, looked at Tom Yamarone and said "if that wasnt spiritual, I dont know what is." I will be checking your blog Cal. It took me until I was 50 before I would believe. It wasnt a person who convinced me. It was a sasquatch that stood up and stared me down from 70-90 feet away in a forest while I leaned against my atv enjoying the view. Sybilla Irwin re-created that for me this year. If you were at the conference I was the one she called to the front and gave the recreation of what I witnessed. That made my day too. So keep the faith and pass the word. They DO exist, and you know that at a young age. Thats awesome Cal. ---from Dave G.

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    1. Thanks Mr. Groves - I know exactly who you are - my mom and I were sitting right in front of you during Ms. Irwin's lecture - her sketch was awesome - I can't imagine what looking at something like that would really be like! I am hoping to camp in the Alleghany State Forest soon. Thanks again!

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  10. Cal, I hesitate to offer advice on blogging, but besides being a businessman in my working life (now retired) I wrote. First it was magazine articles, and then my two blogs, and now books. Writing is personal and each person has his or her own style, but... after saying this, here comes advice.

    Be yourself. Self-deprecating humor worked for me, because I crack myself up all the time. I do stupid stuff.

    Look at my two blogs for a feel, google "trawler Drift Away" and then "Bleecker Mountain Life". Drift Away was so popular that if I was late in updating it in the morning, I'd start getting emails from people asking where my morning blog was. Over 400,000 hits on that one the last I checked (I don't update it anymore), and Bleecker Mountain Life is over 160,000.

    So just do your thing, write about what you know or what your learning, and have fun.
    Look for your book soon, BTW. I should be getting my case of books shortly and yours will go right out.

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    1. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it! I have never done anything like this before so everyone's advice is very helpful!

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  11. Cal, it was great to see you and your Mom this year at the Conference and to meet you last year and get your autograph. It is so good to see the young folk getting involved in this research. I was 5 almost 6 when I first got into the research of these creatures. I was interested in the Big 3 Cryptids in the 70's-Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster and The Yeti, and watched all the documentaries I could find on TV ( I now own all of those documentaries on DVD). I read voraciously about all those subjects as well, and watched the series In Search Of...with Leonard Nimoy, who I knew as Mr. Spock on Star Trek, and ISO focused on the Big 3 cryptids, as well as other unusual phenomena. 40 years later, I still have an interest in all things weird and wonderful. So glad to see your parents encouraging you in your interest too. Hope to see you and your Mom again next year in Ohio. Oh and by the way, call me Henry. None of this Mr. May stuff. Take care, young man.

    Henry May

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