TM the TRAVELING MOUSEPAD!

In the summer of 2007, I petitioned StampWants members for donations to sponsor me for the American Heart Association HeartWalk in Cleveland, Ohio. I received an overwhelming response, and I was very grateful. That summer, I also happened to win one of the monthly drawings, which was a lifetime supply of StampWants C3a drawing promotional mousepads! To prove that I actually DID the HeartWalk as I promised, I took one of these mousepads with me and had my sister take pictures of me with it in front of various Cleveland landmarks along the route, and I posted them in the StampWants forums.

The pictures seemed to be a hit, so with a little encouragement, I signed the mousepad and sent it to LMCochrane so she could do something similar... sign it, take some photos in interesting places and post them, then pass it along to michael78651, and so on, and so on. TM the Traveling Mousepad was born!

It caught on like a fever, and the waiting list to participate grew. After visiting over 25 different spectacular destinations, and traveling in excess of 52,000 MILES in one year's time, TM has returned to Ohio for a repeat participation in 2008 American Heart Association HeartWalk. TM has, in my opinion, brought the forum community to a whole new level of comradery and friendship... giving many of us the opportunity to get to know each other better, what we look like, where we live, things we like and that we're proud of, etc. What a treat!

Here's a link to the forum that explains it all, it makes for some VERY INTERESTING reading!

Click here to check out TM's Gallery on the StampWants Wiki.

It's very sad for me to see TM go, but I promised that at the end of his year-long trek, he would be auctioned off, with...

100% of the auction proceeds being donated to the AHA HeartWalk!

But not only does he go, but with him goes all the items he's accumulated along the way! Certainly an interesting collection of items! You have to check these things out!

Here's an inventory:

- TM and TM's sidekick, a latecomer who was added due to lack of space for signatures!

- TM's Indians Cap and Hawaiian Shirt (courtesy of bennettoons)

- Evil TM! (an evil clone who jumped on board at StampWants HQ... TM's arch nemesis!)

- Flat Stanley... TM's good buddy and traveling companion since visiting kbt in Michigan

- One fossil shark tooth from the beaches of South Carolina (KBT said OK to include it)

- TM's Beard (so he could join the facial hair club)

- Dirt Dogs Hair... yes, that's a glassine full of olderthandirt's dog's hair!

- Several beautiful pins, from South Carolina, Arizona, and some nice stamps

- A lovely Florida momento from dianealthea (can you see the kitty?)

- A baggie full of stamps that were unfortunately among those lost in Mississippi due to Hurricane Katrina (I don't recommend opening the baggie )

- A nice photo of kelleyroberson in front of King Kamehameha in Hawaii

- A brochure and card from the Buddy Holly center in Lubbock, TX

- Newspaper clippings from Paducah, KY

- kdwinton's memories: an event card from the very first stamp show he attended (with the C90)

- a travel guide from Arizona with many beautiful pictures

- and several of the shipping envelopes, decorated nicely with many modern US postage stamps... the packages themselves are keepers!

So you know, after auction close, I will not be shipping TM and Co. right away. He needs to stay in Cleveland in order to attend the HeartWalk on Aug. 10th. I will mail soon thereafter.

Bid early, and bid generously! 100% goes to the American Heart Association. Just one thing... if you win, you must take care of our good buddy, TM!