 |
Linn’s RV has a rather unique mascot. Her
name is Chance and she has an unusual story. Approximately 7 years ago, a light gray
kitten wandered into a busy Wal-Mart store in Conway, a nearby town. One of the employees
took pity on the poor thing, picked her up, and took her home. She named her Chance,
figuring that if the kitten was walking into Wal-Mart to find a home, it deserved a chance
at a good home.
It so happens that the lady’s parents are neighbors to Linn’s
RV. Though Chance had a cozy life living with her new owner, she would soon prove to be
anything but a typical house cat. When her owner decided to go on vacation to Colorado,
she thought that it would be wise to bring Chance to her parent’s home in Damascus
while she and her husband went on their trip. This is where Chance’s life was to
change.
It was the fall of the year and apparently her curiosity got the best
of her -- what is the saying? -- something about curiosity killing the cat, perhaps? There
happened to be a door that was left open and here was her chance to explore the world
outside. Out she went and the world awaited her. For days the owners looked for her. They
called around to all of the neighbors but Chance was not seen.
Described as a gray cat -- Don Linn of Linn’s RV would see her
around the milk barn when he was feeding but he thought that she was white and it just
didn’t seem to be the cat the neighbors described. All winter she hung out around the
farm’s hay pen being seen for a only fleeting moment here and there. Eight months
later she once again appeared around Linn’s RV, just hanging around out in the field.
Don called the neighbor to come and take a look at the cat -- sure enough it was Chance,
poor and very underfed, but still alive. For a cat who had never been outside since the
day she was taken home from Wal-Mart, she had survived an ice storm, some very cold
weather, and apparently some pretty hungry days.
A plan was devised to catch her because by this time she was very wild.
A live trap was set with some food in it and sure enough in a few days she was captured.
The neighbor came, loaded her up, took her home and made the call to reunite his daughter
with her cat but before she could get to Damascus, Chance made her escape again. Again she
returned to Linn’s RV. Don happened to be outside one night and up she walked. It
took a few days to get her tamed down and allow anyone to pet her, but Don kept working
with her and she finally allowed him to pet her and rub her head. By this time the
neighbor and his daughter decided that Linn’s RV would be the owner of Chance because
it was here that she could be both an inside and an outside cat. The shop would be her
inside home when it got too hot or too cold, and the fields around it would be her hunting
grounds year round. Often in the spring and summer (when it isn’t too hot) she will
be seen on the lot following Don around like a little puppy. And so goes the story of
Chance, a very unusual cat. The name fits, don’t you think?- Don, Raye Jean, and Phil Linn -
|
