Luskwood and Trotsdale's Anniversary Celebrations

By Bixyl Shuftan

Luskwood is the oldest known furry community in Second Life, probably the oldest community still around. It was founded in September 2003, just a few months after the virtual world was officially opened. They've been pioneers in many ways, including the first line of furry avatars, and the founders and been around longer than practically all of the Lindens. Trotsdale is Second Life's best known and largest pony community, fans of the "My Little Pony" cartoon. The community's current sims came about in September 2011 shortly after the collapse of the original ones. Luskwood has celebrated its anniversary in October, and beginning last year Trotsdale began having it's anniversary at the same time.

LW14B/TD6B/DL5B Celebration
It's anniversary time!
Luskwood has been around 14 years!
Oldest community in Second Life.
Trotsdale is having its 6th anniversary and Derpyland their 5th as the oldest running Pony Sims.

On Saturday October 21, both communities had their anniversary events. Like last year, Trotsdale would go first. But instead of one hour of music, the ponies had four. Derpyland, one of the other pony sims, used to celebrate it's own anniversary up to it's fourth a year ago. But it was decided this year to combine their efforts and expand the Trotsdale event. At 12 Noon SL time, DJ Cassandra started up the music, and it was party time on a disco dance floor that a distance away was obscured a bit by a Halloweenish dark mist.

Contrary to what one might expect, there was little music from the cartoons. Instead there was trance, 80s rock, and other kinds of tunes. There was a 'sploder in the room. Unlike most around Second Life, no one had to contribute a Linden to it to be eligible for a prize, so it was a few free Linden dollars given out to several residents every time it went off about every ten minutes. There was no tip jar next to the DJ booth. If anyone wanted to pay a tip, it was suggested they instead put a few Lindens into the sim payment fund board nearby. Later in the Trotsdale events, there was a "Caption This" game in which people were invited to make up captions to various pictures.

There were a number of people I recognized. Some I knew from Luskwood, such as Death Berger, and the popular Michi Lumin. Michi wasn't in the black stovepipe hat with goggles and black pants with purple suspenders I had kept seeing her in, but a burgundy dress and her hair dyed a shade of burgundy as well. During the event, she would briefly change to a pony form which had a smaller version of the hat. One person I recognized from a year earlier at Luskwood was Tiger Kitchensink, or "Pumpkin Spice Soprano" as she calls herself now. Some neighbors of mine from the Sunweaver/Angel Estates, such as Skylark Lefavre, were also there.

At 1PM, Cassandra handed the DJ booth to DC (Death Berger) to play for an hour. At 2PM, DJ Crayzee spun the tunes until 3PM. Finally came DJ Cera, who played for the last scheduled hour. As Cera played her last tune, people began heading over to Luskwood for it's events. Once the hour was up, Skylark offered to DJ for those who remained behind, and the ponies were happy to let her play some music for a little while longer.

The Luskwood half of the celebrations that day, the LW14B, began at the Retroskunk Cafe, located in northern Tehama southeast of the Lusk sim, at 4PM SL time. Shannon O'Herlihy was the singer at this event at the open-air venue, which had some fallen autumn leaves on the wood deck, on which a mix of furs, ponies, and human avatars listened to. Mounted to the side was a poster of the event, the Luskwood symbol in grey in the middle of a triangle with some lines from a document of some kind, some words blacked out, and stamped "Classified" in onr corner. In this conspiracy/secrecy theme, some had taglines such as Michi's "Double Agent," and Shannon was refered to in one or two of Luskwood's announcements as "Agent 0014."

We're very lucky to once again have Shannon O'Herlihy performing for the Luskwood birthday celebration! Shannon will be onstage performing her gorgeous music at the RetroSkunk Cafe in Tehama (landmark included) from 4-5 PM SLT today, to be followed by Keeba Tammas at the Amphitheater at 5.

Shannon sang for a while, then at 5PM the people headed over to the Luskwood Amphitheater in Perry. This location would see the most of the celebration time, two hours. From 5 to 6PM, Keeba Tammas and her Tiny Maniacs played for the crowd. This live band of a human and several tinies got cheers from the crowd, "My face is hurting from smiling too hard.  I love this!" "~*~ W00T!! It's KEEBA! W00t! W00T! KEEEEEBAAAAA!!!~*~" Some of the tinies were in costume, including a ghost, skeleton, "rattle dose bones!", and vamp. Keeba herself was wearing a "Bride of Frankenstein" hairdoo and a bloodied dress.

When the act was over, they got off stage and the tinies did a "tiny riverdance," with the sounds of stepping feet. Someone wasn't so sure if the structure could take even their small feet, "I'm not sure this balcony can handle riverdancing." But after the footwork, there was something missing, "Ohoh morton, someone stole your blue suede shoe." "Look, they gone." "We hafta buy him sum new wuns."

Woot, we're playing at 6pm for Luskwood's 14th birthday, and Trotsdale's 6th!  It's a bit laggy due to all the folks but hope you can make it.

At 6PM, the live music duo Jaycatt Nico and Frogg Marlowe got on stage. But they weren't in their usual feline and amphibian avatars. Instead, they looked like shaggy monsters, Jaycat the pianist as a white creature, and Frogg the guitarist as a black one with a huge mouth that looked more like he was eating the guitar than playing it: Specimens E92 and E30. "I am doing things for SCENICE!" Jaycatt tried to explain. Frogg responds, "No, things are being done TO you for SCIENCE!" "They said I'd get a cookie," Jaycat stated as his reason for volunteering, "when the testing starts, I hopes there is no needles."

Keeba, who was still around and listening, exclaimed, "no one said there would be testing! I was told there would be no math!" Michi gave an uncharacteristically sinister laugh, "Just a little pin prick. Keeba. there'll be no more... aaaa-aa-aah." "You can't test on my band! NO ANIMAL TESTING!" But not all of the tinies were alarmed, "Wot awesome monster up dere." Despite their very different forms, Jaycatt and Frogg would go on to play the good music they're known for.

At 7PM, it was time for the last act of the celebration. The crowd headed to a "Restricted Area" somewhere in Perry. The place was a mock-up of the legendary "Area 51" government facility that the authorities continue to refuse to acknowledge whether it exists or not. Nearby was a flying saucer abducting a cow and a smaller building in which an alien was on an examination table. There were a few other aliens about, including one next to a "take me with you" sign wearing a tinfoil hat. And there were "No Trespassing" and "Photography Prohibited" signs which were ignored by the crowd.

Haley Maruti, the busty squirrelgirl DJ, spun the tunes for the event, next to an alien with his own DJ headphones, "Dig through the ditches and burn all the witches and eat a big bowl of Count Chocula!" The floor was packed, and occasionally a 'sploder like the one for the Trotsdale parties would rain down a few Lindens on a few partiers. There was also a bomb, presumably defused, hanging from the ceiling. Behind the DJ booth was a mounted shark's head, not something normally associated with a military facility.

Besides Michi, Liam Roark was there, but he was becoming less active due to sleepiness. Others I recognized included Hagalaz Nilsson, Fury Rosewood, Tengu Yamabushi, and Ardy Lay. Cynthia Farshore, a friend of the Newser, came by, "Just left another place that was steampunk having a 7th annual Halloween ball, and (it) had half the size of this. ... Glad I made it here to see this first hand, was really busy tonight, first DJed a club, then ran over to another to dance, then drop in here" People danced to the music, chatted about things like what happened to the Munsters, or looked at photos of Luskwood's early years on the back wall.

The event had no set ending time, but as it went on and on, people began heading to bed. Eventually, Halley had to hang up her headphones, "Gonna need to pass out soon, but goodness this was a fun time tonight." Michi kept up the music a little longer. But unlike some previous anniversary celebrations, she couldn't stay up past Midnight. Well before that time, she told everyone she had to log off, saying she had to make a trip tomorrow. And with the popular but tired skunkgirl gone, the crowd soon dwindled to a few. The party was pretty much over.

But for those who missed the event, don't fret too much. Luskwook is sure to have some goings-on at Halloween. And next year marks Luskwood's fifteenth anniversary  And Second Life's oldest community will have it's pride on the line to make their celebration grander than ever.

"Happy Birthday Luskwood!"

Bixyl Shuftan

Luskwood and Trotsdale's Anniversary Events

by Bixyl Shuftan

On the weekend of October 22 and 23, the Luskwood and Trotsdale communities held a double celebration of their anniversaries this month. It was in September 2003, just a few months after Second Life was officially opened, that Luskwood began. But it's anniversary celebrations have been in October for as long as this writer can tell. Trotsdale was one of several pony sims that appeared after the collapse of the original Bronyville, probably in September 2011 as it's fourth anniversary was celebrated in September.

Over time, the communities have helped one another, notably Luskwood founder Michi Lumin helping with the pony sims' financing. But the Trotsdale anniversary celebration had always been a separate one, until this year when it was decided to combine the two, as well as giving both a Halloween theme as the date would be late in the month, Saturday October 22, and Sunday October 24. There would be one event in the pony area, and the rest at Luskwood.

Things started off in a forest at night high above the Trotsdale sim at 2PM.The darkness gave the place a spooky look, though all those ponies around helped give a cartoony kind of spooky feeling. There were all kinds of pony avatars around, including some sporting a costume of some kind such as a cape, or wearing a pumpkin with a space cut out for the nose. Someone showed up as the character "Nightmare Moon." Another showed up in a giant pony avatar that must've been close to 20 feet tall.

Not everyone was a pony as there were a number of furs around, notably Luskwood regulars, a couple four footed ferals, and a couple normal humans. Among the costumes that stood out was a  kind of battleship outfit on Hagalaz Nilsson, which he later called a "Yamato," that was worn like a jetpack, with swiveling turrets all over. Another was a kind of armor or robot that looked like it was from an 80s or 90s video game, and a feral with a "dogecoin" (a digital currency made as an alternative to bitcoin with an Internet meme as it's logo) in it's mouth. A couple of the Luskwood founders were there, including Michi Lumin.

DJ Crayzee was the pony DJ spinning the tunes for the first hour. For the second hour, Luskwood's DC Cyberfoxy took over. There was also a 'sploder, which most experienced residents will recall as a party game in which people put in amounts of cash and it either gives it out randomly with one lucky winner getting a larger share or half ends up in the hands of the last one who chipped in. But after their 'sploder went off the first time, it was obvious it was giving out far less then it was taking in. So it was set to not accept more cash from all but the staff, and would every so often shower the crowd with cash, some getting more amounts than others. Yours truly got totals from 2 Lindens to over 50L that added up to a few hundred over time.

At 4 PM, the celebration moved to Luskwood at the Perry Amphitheater. For two hours, there were live music performances. The first was by singer Keeba Tammas and her band of tiny avatars, the "Tiny Maniacs." The Maniacs were their usual funny selves with their squeaky voices , one holding a sign "I want your body." Following Keeba was Shannon Oherlihy, who sung while playing her guitar. People watched from the stands, or standing in a few boxes above the stands. There were some anniversary shirts available for anyone to take, but these were from last year's anniversary.

At 6 PM, the party moved to a new platform, one that Luskwood dubbed "Heck." Teleporting over, the place was mostly a hellish scene with a molten lava river and rock, with bleached bones and red sky, with only a couple small corners where anything alive grew. In the center was entched a red circle and demonic-looking symbols around it with a yellow dragon and pentagram in the center. Why this place of fire and brimstone was called "Heck" I never asked, though as swearing is discouraged in Luskwood and outright forbidden in Trotsdale, it was most likely a joke about their policy.

Haley Maruti, Lusk's squirrelgirl DJ spun the tunes for three hours as the crowd danced away apparently the ground not too hot for their bare feet (perhaps the rune offered some protection). When she was finally done DJ Apoth took over. The schedule only required him to play until 11PM SL time, but he continued on until close to Midnight, entertaining the group of furs, with a few ponies and a couple normal humans mixed in.

During this time there was much wisecracking and joking, with a few oldtimers such as Beatfox Xevious dropping to to make a once in a blue moon appearance. Besides Michi, founders Liam Roark and Eltee Statosky. The crowd remained thick until about Midnight SL time when Apoth hung up his headphones and got out of heck, "Goodnight everyone, thank you again for letting me help celebrate Luskwood's 13th." This was followed soon by Michi, and others began following soon after. It was indeed a heck of a party in Heck.

The next day, Sunday October 23, the celebrations went on with two performances that day. At 2PM, the dragon guitarist Alazarin Mondrian and his "Invisible Band" performed on stage at the colorful platform that was the setting for most of their performances on their tenth anniversary celebration, still called the "LW10B build." There was less dancing then standing and listening this time as the dragon gave a firey performance for an hour and a half.

Following the rock concert, there was a three hour break in the festivities, then one last event at 6PM when Frogg Marlowe of the popular Jaycatt and Frogg musical duo performed at the Perry Amphitheater. As it turned out, Jaycatt was on vacation, but he was on his way home and managed to get his laptop connected to the Internet in time to watch the show in the audience. It was an hour of relaxing music, a smooth end to a busy two days of celebration. 

There were numerous praises of Luskwood and it's founders and staff during the course of the event, by both regulars and friends who made their home elsewhere but come back once in a while. Among them, "just want to thank you Luskies for some of my happiest and most memorable memories. I know I'm not around much at all anymore but I'll always have a ton of love for this place. Thank you for getting me through a really rough time in my life and for being friends to me. I do appreciate it a lot. Very much."

For me, Luskwood was more or less where I got my real start in Second Life. While I might have moved on, I still come back to say hello. And the red fox avatar I got here in summer 2007 is still my main one over nine years later. One never forgets where they came from, and it's nice to drop by once in a while at the Big Tree to chat with those who still make it their home.

On a final note, the partying isn't over this month. It was announced later on that there would be a separate Halloween party after all on Saturday October 29 at 6PM at the "Perry Graveyard" at Perry (150/139/2016). So they still have plenty of celebrating to "scare up."

For more pictures of the event, check out those on their imgur account (here).

Bixyl Shuftan

Luskwood's Twelfth Anniversary

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Satuday October 17, The Luskwood community held it's Twelfth Anniversary Celebration, also known as the LW12B. It was in October 2003, when the Grid was just a few months old that Arito Cotton, Liam Roark, Eltee Statosky, and Michi Lumin (May 2012 interview) got together in what was known then as "Eltee's Treehouse." But from those small beginings would come a much larger community, the first of many Furry communities in Second Life, and the oldest continuously occupied social spot on the Grid, Furry or otherwise. Every year, Luskwood holds an anniversary celebration, and this year they held a number of music performances at three of their venues. The locations were in or mainly in the Perry sim, which the Luskwood group owns.

It's time for Luskwood 12B! Join us as we celebrate 12 journeys around the sun, starting with Alazarin Mondrian at 12:55 PM SLT in the psychedelic forest!

The "Psychedelic Forest," created by Eo Fenstalker and Kumba Digfoot for Luskwood's Tenth Anniversary, would be the scene of the first event at 1PM SL time. The dragon musician Alazarin Mondrian and his band performing for a packed crowd. Getting there, it took some minutes for most everything to rezz into focus.

There were a number of regulars at Luskwood, and some from the Trotsdale community which has become closely linked to this group of furs in the past few years.

 In the past, special hats had been given as presents for those attending the anniversary. This time commemorative T-shirts were given out, resembling a Lunar mission logo.

The party went on the Psychedelic Forest for an hour, then at 2PM SL time, the celebrations shifted to the ampitheater. The Luskwood Ampitheater is mostly on the Perry sim, but part of it goes over Lusk for those hit harder by lag can attend events. Keeba Tammas and her band of tinies performed live music for the enthusiastic crowd, which had a number of normal human avatars and tinies amongst the furs and ponies.

At one point, someone from the audience got on stage and strummed his own guitar. As he wasn't interfering with the band, he only got smiles. Then one of the ponies got on stage, and it wasn't long before Michi Lumin, the most popular of the four founders, was talked into joining in, the real-life engineer heading to the keyboard instead getting a guitar, "Hope she is not nervous and sprays here at stage," one wag commented. But of course she didn't.

From 3 to 4PM, there was an intermission as the Luskwood staff took a break. But after the break was over, the popular Jaycatt Nico and Frogg Marlowe took to the stage with their own live performance.

At five, it was Shannon Oherlihy's turn, strumming her guitar as she sang.

At 6PM SL time, it was on to the third location for the celebrations. The crowd headed over to the "Disco Moon" platform, so named as it's located inside a large globe resembling a moon on the outside. The first to DJ for the crowd was Chippingham Millions.

After a couple hours came the last DJ on the schedule, squirelgirl Haley Maruti.

Like at the previous two venues, not everyone showing up was a fur or pony.

The celebrations would go on late in the evening. At one point, Scentuallust, one of the administrators of the pony sims was dancing next to founder Michi, and then a third skunk got into the act. Then someone else changed to his own skunk avatar, resulting in a line of monochrome with four stinkers dancing away.

The fun went on past Midnight SL time. DJ Haley eventually had to go to bed, "THANK YOU LUSKWOOD!!" "Thank you Haley!"And one of the ponies played some music on the stream for a little while. 

But eventually it was time for those left to retire for the night, Michi commenting, "I am so losing it. I've now been going 13.5 hours if you count pre-party stuff." She shared hugs with those nearest to her. LW12B was over.

While the anniversary celebrations were done, the Luskwood staff doesn't have long to rest. Halloween is coming, and one can bet the Big Tree will be the host of some "Spook-tacular" fun then.

For this online reporter, Lusk isn't just any location. It's where I more or less got my start in Second Life, and I still use the Luskwood Red Fox as my everyday avatar. While I no longer hang out here every day, I still come by time to time to check on things.

Happy Birthday Luskwood

Bixyl Shuftan

Luskwood's 11th Anniversary

On Friday October 24 and Saturday October 25, Luskwood held it's anniversary event. As a community, Luskwood stands out in a number of ways. Not only is it the oldest furry community in Second Life, it's the oldest community that's still active of any kind, period. As the first makers of furry avatars, they pioneered the method of mass sales of them. Unlike many furry communities, they make their home on the mainland, just east of Ahern which is the first stop after the welcome areas for many new residents, and several sims east of the Bay City area. The contact with residents preferring human avatars has helped them become the most recognized and familiar of furry groups and places. Unfortunately, it's also made them the target for griefer attacks at times over the years, notably in their early and middle years in which some griefer groups made it their mission to target and harrass furs. But Luskwood has persevered through these and other problems.

Luskwood is described as being founded "sometime in the end of 2003." But for the past several years, it's birthday has always been celebrated on some Friday in October. This year, it was on the weekend before Halloween, Friday October 24. I'd been told there had been the possibility that it could have been moved to November, or possibly combined with it's Halloween event.

The official events were not at the "Big Tree," which has come to symbolize Luskwood, but at a few other locations. At 3:30PM SL time, Keeba Tammas and her Tiny band started things off at the Amphitheater. The live performer sang while her avatar was wrapped up in a straightjacket, muzzle, and secured to a hand cart for easier movie a-la Hannibal Lecture. No doubt there was some chuckles as why a human would need to be muzzled around tinies.

Following Keeba at 5PM SL time at the Amphitheater was David Csiszer. The guitarist strummed his instrument while performing next to a giant iPod while wearing a "Boba Fett" style Mandalorian armor. Despite the heavy gloves, he strummed the stringed instrument just fine. Next at 6PM SL time was Shannon Oherlihy, whom would be the final singer at the Amphitheater that night.

At 7PM SL time, the action was moved to the LW11B warehouse stage at the Old Factory build at Perry, where Frogg Marlowe would do the last of the live music acts that night. Frogg usually appears as half of a duet with Jaycatt Nico, but this time his feline friend was absent due to real life plans. At 8PM, DJ Sweet (Cabaleer Resident) took over. Although he finished his hour to the crowd's satisfaction, the greenish wolfman would later complain of feeling ill and sick. He'd been playing in spite of his ailments. But in the meantime. it was time for DJ Haley to take her turn to spinning the tunes. The energetic squirrelgirl would keep on playing the music until Midnight SL time.

At random times during the DJ events, the founders present would occasionally offer trivia questions with Linden dollar cash prizes for the first correct response, 

But this would not be the true end of the celebrations. The next day, the staff dusted off the colorful stage that had been the setting for their tenth anniversary celebrations last year, "So finishing up our Luskwood 11th, the wrap up and last act of the weekend will be Alazarin Mondrian at last year's crazy build in Perry.  ... See you there!"

And so at 2PM began the last of the LW11B acts, with Alazarin and his rock n' roll band performing on the stage. On the platform illuminated by strange glowing plants, the audience listened, usually dancing, to the music, in addition to cracking jokes to one another, "Tonight you met real aliens and robots!" "And tacos?" "Space taco." "That may not be healthy." "But it's a space taco!"

There were a number of Luskwood regulars and noted visitors attending the celebration. The founders Arito Cotton, Liam Roark, and the popular Michi Lumin were there, Michi being the one whom stuck it out to Midnight on Friday night. Others there included Ardy Lay, Satch Flan, Hagalaz Nilsson, Quiana Levitt, OldVamp Resident, Cereal Milk, Athy Squeegee. Reignick Deakins, Fury Rosewood, Roxikat Muse (furry artist), and others.

At one point, someone accidentally had their Voice on, "Somebody's got an open mike." Someone asked, "is mike supposed to be on here?" Michi Lumin answered, "It usually is in Perry. The main platform is text only because it 'grew up' before voice existed, and we don't want to have two disparate .. communities at once, which is kinda how it goes. You either gotta go full in voice, or text only, otherwise you have people who can't or won't do either." Someone asked, "I thought mike was always disabled except for the Cafe." Michi told him, "Nah, it's on in Perry. just nobody uses it."

At the end, Michi thanked the musicians, "This is actually pretty much the wrap up of LW11B guys,  since we started 3:30 PM yesterday but -- thanks Alazarin. (smile) ... Anyways. thank you everyone.. Performers, coordinators, builders, really, as I said this years LWB really was done by the core and the community... So that means a lot... Next year we will start planning earlier; Ahty says we'll start planning in July (raspberries)."

And so, the oldest community in Second Life turned a year older. But in a few days it's party time again. On the afternoon and evening of October 31, Luskwood holds it's Halloween party.

Happy Birthday Luskwood

Links: Luskwood website, Luskwood Wikifur entry, Luskwood SL Wiki entry, SL Newser Interview with Michi Lumin

Bixyl Shuftan

Luskwood's Tenth Birthday Party

By Bixyl Shuftan


The name Luskwood means different things. To some, it's a social platform where one can pretty much count on someone always being there. To others, it's the original furry avatar company, the one who laid the groundwork for all others and is still around. To another group, it's the oldest furry community in Second Life, possibly the oldest community of any avatar type still around, and where many furs (and a few not so furry) got their start in Second Life. Luskwood is all of these things, and more. And it recently celebrated a milestone very few places in Second Life can boast. It was ten years ago when the place came to be. And on October 19th, Luskwood held it's tenth anniversary party.

 The celebration wasn't held at the Big Tree, but was held on a special platform over three thousand meters high. Designed by Eo Fenstalker and Kumba Digfoot, the place had a trippy, glowly look that was set at nighttime. Aside from the avatar vendors there, presumably partily to keep the illusion of this being the regular place transformed and partially for anyone wanting to make a purchase, it looked very different from how the Big Tree usually is. And indeed not having checked the landmark, my first thoughts were wondering what had happened to the place.

 A small entrance platform was connected to a main platform much like the one on the Big Tree, which was connected to a stage platform. Live music acts performed on the stage, while DJs performed at the main platform on a glowly DJ booth. The crowd mostly followed where the music was. There was a box of glowsticks for people to take one, which added to the rave-like glowly light look of the place. There were also some free hats to take, a tenth anniversary baseball cap, plus a "fox hat" that resembled the top half of Luskwood's symbol.

From Noon SL time to 1 PM, Keeba Tammas performed on stage, followed by David Csiszer from 1 to 2PM. From two in the afternoon to 3:30PM, Alazarin Mondrian and the Invisible Band was on stage. After a brief intermission, the action moved to the main platform at 4PM where DJ Zairo performed. At 6PM, the crowd moved back to the stage to see Shannon Oherlihy on stage. At 7PM were Jaycatt and Frogg, who do live performances at Luskwood every month. Following "Effnjay" at 8PM was squirrelgirl DJ Haley. And from 11PM to 1AM, DJ Soul spun the tunes late in the night.

The place was packed with over fifty avatars in the sim while I was there, and presumably it was so during the whole time of the party. There were furry avatars of all kinds, Lusk and otherwise, including some heavily modified such as an eight foot tall huskygirl. There were also a number of pony and human avatars present. Present were the four founders, Arito Cotton, Eltee Statosky, Liam Roark, and the popular Michi Lumin. Most were there just part of the time, but Michi was around the whole time I was there.

There were also a number of Luskwood's "Core," or helpers present, such as Furry Rosewood, Tengu Yamabushi, Dougal Jacobs, and Ardy Lay. Beatfox Xevious, known for his design of flexible tails when they were new on the Grid, had been taking a break from Second Life, but made an appearance at this special party.

As the party went on, there was quite a bit of chatter and jokes. The "fox hat" became a source of humor as people playfully debated whether  or not it was redundant for someone in a fox avatar to wear one. Then Michi put one on, but not wanting to part with her top hat put the second hat over it. The result was hilarity, "Oh my God! Michi's hat is wearing a hat! IT'S ALIVE!!!" And some hilarious stunts in the past were brought up, such as "Dougal's Milkshake."

And like many times before, prizes were given out in this anniversary. These were Linden cash prizes given out at random, and usually with a humorous comment. They started out small, at 100 Lindens, and as time went on, the amounts went up, from 250 to 500 Lindens. After 9PM SL time, the prizes became 750, and then one thousand Lindens. After Midnight SL time, five people who stuck it out were lucky enough to get 5000 prizes, Lily Rothschild, Slicky Oh, Braya White, Starywarrior18 Resident, and Viener (Vienersnitzel Resident), "It sounds a bit wrong to say i'm paying L$5000 to a Viener (vienersnitzel), but 'ere it is."

Michi and I talked a little via IM. Michi was busy as the popular skunkgirl is often deluded with dozens of calls, but she talked a little, part of the conversation allowed on the record. Of the original Lindens all but gone from the Lab, Michi commented there were "four Lindens who still know who we are, but I'm sure most of them are rank and file and don't know or don't care what's going on inside. … though 'We're all in this boat together.' So, so it goes." She did promise to protect Luskwood should the Lab's intentions to the residents becomes antagonistic, "I never think anything is a dead end, and I don't quit until its over. … I have a bit of a track record of being a bit of a pit bull and not only in the SL domain.  Whatever comes to pass, I won't take it laying down."

But for the most part, such issues were put aside for the happy occasion. After the last DJ hung up his speakers, Michi was there to put up a stream, "I think we're officially wrapping up here soon. … We've wrapped up but folks are welcome to stay." Dougal pondered the time, "Ten years is 3650 Days. Ten Years is 87,600 hours. Ten years is over 5 million minutes." One quipped, "Add 2 days for leap years, Dougal." "In ten years, the Voyager 1 spacecraft has travelled over 3 billion miles, nearly the distance from Earth to Pluto." There seemed to be signs of a griefer in the distance with a screen-crasher, but it was too far away to affect us, "At least he waited until the party was over."

It was about this time someone noticed among the late partiers was one resident just a couple days onto the Grid. He was happily welcomed to Second Life, and he commented he already had a fantastic beginning. Dancing near Michi, someone joked about the irony of a newcomer dancing with one of Lusk's Founders, an "old and the new" scene.

The comments continued, "I'm glad I managed to catch the whole thing, and stay to the end." "Thank you all for coming out and celebrating ten awesome years!" "Thanks Lusk for making this party possible." "Thanks for creating beauty... not just visually, but between folks' ears." "Thanks to everyone who came and took part in our celebrations with us." "Yes! Happy 10th! Everyone who's put so much of their lives into bringing us wonderful times." "Tenth Birthday is best birthday!" "Happy 10th Giant Tree!" "Great stuff guys, never seen a party like this in my admittedly limited experience on SL. Thanks for putting it on." "Thank you everyone for the fantastic party all day! Happy 10th BDay Luskwood!" "Congratulations on a Decade Luskwood!" "It was a lot of fun. Thanks to all the DJ's and Lusk for making it happen."

And so, most of those remaining began to head off for bed, "See you all in ten more years. Or is 25 the next big number?" " … if I survive that long I'll be glad to raise a toast with you!" Michi reminded, "There are some things going on tomorrow, like open mic night (smile) and yes, thank you to EVERYONE and everyone who's been a part of this community!"

There was an art show at the base of the big tree, and the next day was a two hour "Open Mike" show at the Retro Skunk Cafe. But these were small compared to the bash that had taken over a dozen people at least to pull off, and attended by who knows how many residents throughout the day. But for those who couldn't make the big bash, or miss the festive feeling, Lusk will be having it's Halloween party on October 26 (warning, Lusk vampire bats have a bite animation already built in).

Luskwood's faced a few challenges over the years, from human avatars who question why a mostly furry place should be right on the mainland (and several sims east of Bay City, to other furries who grumble about the enforced PG atmosphere, A Lab that seems more and more distant, and of course the griefers whom can be so numerous I've heard one Lusk regular joke you're still a newbie at the place until you've witnessed at least one. But the people have handled it all. And so, the Big Tree passed a milestone made only by a handful of sims, and probably the first that has maintained a thriving community.

"Happy 10th Birthday Luskwood!"