We hope that all of you found time to visit and explore our 2014 Halloween sim ‘DARKWOOD’. We had such a fun time creating, then sharing it with you … what a great success ! We could not have asked for a better turnout (and support) over the four weeks it was open.  With it being listed in the Second Life Destination Guide’s ‘Editor’s Picks’ category for most of that time, many explorers new to Calas Galadhon Park were able to see what is possible when ‘Calas’ tackles a Halloween theme 🙂 If you did miss the build you will find plenty of photographs and machinima by ‘googling’ ‘Calas Galadhon, Darkwood’ as well as some photos and links to articles about the sim on this website.

With being so busy creating Darkwood, completing the Autumn / Fall season change, working to finish the change to winter in the Park while taking down ‘Darkwood’ and starting on the special Christmas sim in it’s place, we apologize for not keeping you up to date on how support for the Park sims has been going (whew .. and all in one sentence :-)).

Below you will find the graphics for how September and October went for the Park, as well as a summary of the Park totals from March through October.  We expected to pay the cost for DARKWOOD but with being so well covered in the SL Press and being in Editors Picks as well as the support of Calas fans and members, much of the cost from September (when we started working on it) through November has already been covered by its visitors.  As you may know, we are keeping the region through December to house our Christmas Pavilion this year before letting it go the first of January.

As we finish up Winter on the sims and get ready for the Holidays across the Park we’ll keep you updated through our Calas Announcement Group as well as here.  We hope to have the new Christmas sim ready to open by December 1.

Opening our doors with the 2009 Holiday season, this will be our 6th Christmas coming up!

Our music schedule is full for November as we head back to our OZ Nightclub & The Dolphin Café.   Be sure to watch for the notices!  Remember that in December all shows will be held at The Christmas Pavilion.

As those close to us know, this year has been a bit of a crazy one for Truck and I .  Trying to balance RL changes with our SL responsibilities has been a challenge at times.  With this latest season change, and having the main responsibility for landscaping, it has been particularly difficult for me to get everything done and to feel at the same time that I’ve done my best. That said, I do love the work.

While keeping the sims looking good is satisfying for us both, we are finding that we receve  the most enjoyment from creating  the special builds we have for the last few years. We hope to continue to do so as long as we are here.

It is no small thing to say that the support and interest we’ve received from our members and visitors this year made it possible to continue with the 11 sims for all of 2014.  Those who have been able to regularly (and in some cases very generously), donate to the Park over the past year know how very grateful and touched we are.   We don’t often get out and about anymore, but I’m guessing that this level of support for a sim or group of sims, is unique to Second Life … a testament to the kindness of others.

Having said that, we would like to get to a place where we don’t have to rely so much on donations to maintain the park. To be honest,  it just makes us both feel uncomfortable. We started out in 2009 with the intent of ‘Calas’ as a ‘gift’ to the SL public.  Though I doubt with this size of an estate today the clock can be turned back completely, we’d like not to have to depend on them to continue our creative work.  We’ll do our best to do so in 2015.

I do believe that Truck and I will be closing the Park for January as we have in the past … to take a much needed break.  As usual  during this period, we will continue working on the Park … hopefully making ‘Calas’ more manageable for us in 2015. We’ll let you know as soon as we are sure.

I do so want to update Misty Mountains. With so many creators, old and new, coming up with amazing new content, I’m sure we could make ‘Misty’ even better! Not to mention how fun it would be 🙂.

If we see the work will take longer than January, we’ll  explore if there is some way to open at least part of the Park until the work is complete. We’ll keep our group and this website updated on the progress.

For now lets all concentrate on having another wonderful Holiday Season at Calas Galadhon Park !

Our very best to each of you.

Ty & Truck