Chris “Booty” Ruhland
To describe “Wonder Day” is to describe a marvelous event the develops an arrousal of emotions creating awe. It is a day that lends itself to a gathering of old friends and the introduction to new friends sharing in one common goal of having fun. A day such as this combined with events of a picture scavenger hunt, beer drinking and plain craziness makes for one good combination of a day that wont ever be forgotten. If you have experienced Wonder Day than you know what I am talking about. Consequently, if you haven’t had a chance to join the masses in this yearly gathering, than I suggest you do so, so you can share in excitment that rest of us share when this day comes upon us each year!

Claudia
For those people that weren’t around for Wonderday 05′, it is known that Craig took on my role of being the “worst dressed”! The year before, I wore my mom’s rain pants, which would have been fine if she wasn’t half my size. My outfit was too small, and Craig’s on the other hand was definitely too big! He layered, and layered, forcing me to imagine who I’d be dating if Craig gained a few pounds. Then, to top it all off, he put on his snazzy engineering goggles. Thata’ boy! If anyone observed my facial expressions, they could clearly see that I wasn’t encouraging this behavior. In no way was I embarrassed; I was just afraid that he was going inspect me, and then eat me! I also wanted everyone to see “the Handsome Boy” (official quote from Marisa’s mother) that was hiding beneath the layers of clothing and headgear. I have labeled our group the “survivors”. Throughout the day, we slowly lost fellow riders. Craig labeled these lost souls as merely “casualties” in the adventure to go on as many rides as humanly possible. I was forced to run behind Craig all day, otherwise I too would be left behind.

Who other than Chris Cumberbatch (aka Chris Charles) wants to be a single rider? That brings my memories away from Craig to my future lover, Chris. I remember when he dedicated a love song to me while we walked through Scooby Doo’s Haunted Mansion, hand in hand. Wait, was that a dream or reality? It must have been while I was daydreaming on the ride home, listening to the bonus tracks on the Wonderday CD. Actually, the best memory I had of the day was jumping lines with Chris. Sam Parras (the single guy from our gigantic group who actually works for Royal Bank) and his girlfriend Gracie were approximately five lines away from us. We were actually waiting to go on the best ride at Wonderland: The Cyclone. I aimed to cut across these five lines and decided to do so when several Asian guys were ahead of me. I hoped that a) they couldn’t speak English, and b) they thought white skinny girls were hot. I politely asked if I could cut in front of them to get to my final destination several lines away. Thankfully, they let me through and Chris followed. With my cat-like flexibility, I managed to go over and under railings and squeeze in between so many people. Chris, on the other hand, wasn’t as lucky. He was unable to follow me at the same pace and was stuck to face angry riders. So the day continued, and by the end, our group of approximately thirty riders turned into two couples: Gracie, Sam, Craig, and myself. We did bump into the main group on the Vortex, but of course, we ditched them again…

The day’s itinerary led us to the infamous Sam and Pete’s Bar and Grill where I had the best Chicken Wrap of my life. Unfortunately, my stomach hurt the rest of the night and I wasn’t in the best mood. I’ll use this excuse for being a complete bitch to Adam while he videotaped me. I was encouraged by Brandon to defend myself on behalf of my behavior. Every time I saw Adam that night, he was filming the crowd. I was under the impression that this Wonderday movie was going to be over three hours long. When Adam came to film me with his brand-new camera, my response was, “This video is going to be unbelievably boring”. Repeat this comment another three times. As it turns out, the movie is more like a twenty-five minute clip. I have apologized several times for those that were affected by my rude comments. Unfortunately, Adam has not invested in video editing software. Otherwise, he could have cut me out of the film completely! I just hope that they have the integrity to forgive and forget, knowing that I’m truly an enthusiastic and loving individual. I’m also the most pessimistic person I know. I’m Polish, enough said.

The best part of the evening was when Craig was standing in the middle of the dance floor, screaming “CLOWDEA” when a Bare Naked Ladies song came on. Yes, I now officially like the group because of him. Phew, that was hard to admit.

To the Wonderday President and his associates:
Thank you for all your hard work! I love you guys!!! If everyone ends up seeing the video from Sam and Pete’s, I’m not really that much of a bitch… I just play one on TV. I’m looking forward to Wonderday Part II, and ohhhhhhhhh baby, I’m READY!

Love,
Claudia
~Wonderday 2005, Wonderday 05 Part 2 & Wonderday 2006 Attendee