Cat Show & Martial Arts Classic Goes Well

The Southern Illinoisan, the Marion Daily Republican, WSIL-TV and KFVS-TV all gave us excellent coverage this weekend of the Southern Illinois Feline Fancier's Cat Show and the International Southern Illinois Open Martial Arts Classic held at the Williamson County Pavilion.

I really like Ashley Wiehle's opening paragraph in today's Southern.

MARION - What do you get when you mix martial arts with fluffy Persian kittens? A packed weekend at the Williamson County Pavilion, for starters.

We weren't completely certain everything would work out when we booked both events for the same weekend but it worked out fine with the cats up front and the martial arts in the back. Next year we'll push for separate weekends.

Here's a wrap-up of some of the press coverage.

• Williamson County Pavilion Hosts Busy Weekend - The Southern.
  
• 'Catty Competitors' - The Southern.
  
• Martial Arts Competition at Pavilion This Weekend - Marion Daily Republican.
  
• Feline fanciers from around the country coming to Marion - Marion Daily Republican.

It looks like we had about 3,500 people in the building this weekend.

Cat show organizers noted they had 128 cats registered which brought about two people on average per cat, plus 700 to 800 spectators. The martial arts classic saw around 700 competitors and 1,800 spectators.