Great excitement in Nutwood! Saturday August 26th 2006 was the date of the 23rd annual meeting of the Followers of Rupert Bear.

Hundreds of Rupert Followers met in Warwick to chat about Rupert, browse and buy thousands of Ruperty items and to enjoy company of other like-minded Rupert fans.

General view of the Fair	Stella & Rose's stall at the Fair

This year we saw ownership of Rupert transferred from the Express Newspapers to a company called Entertainment Rights and rumours were rife that Rupert would be changed forever from the character we know and love so well to a cartoon character similar to Disney's Winnie-The-Pooh.

Left: The 'classic' Rupert

Nardis Roscoe, representing Rupert's new owners, gave an excellent talk and reassured us that New Rupert, like Disney's Pooh, is aimed at pre-school children and that Classic Rupert, like Classic Pooh, is safe - and aimed at older children and adults.

Right: The new Rupert

This year's play was "Rupert And the Water Lily" and once more the theatre was turned into the world of Nutwood with Rupert's chums including the Sage of Um in his flying Brella, all surrounded by red and yellow balloons.

Once again Stella & Rose's Books were delighted to sponsor the Junior Followers Painting Competition. Membership of the Junior Club is free - for joining details click here.

Judging the colourful entries was difficult as they were all excellent. Cash prizes, a Rupert mug and certificate were awarded to the winners in each of the three age groups.

Left: The paintings on display.

The winners were Emillie Storey (Group 1 aged 4-6), Alexander Gardner (Group 2 aged 7-9) and Emily Wyatt (Group 3 aged 10-14 ) - shown below, left to right.

And not forgetting the opportunity throughout the day to add to our Rupert collections from the thousands of books and Rupert goodies on sale.

If you would like to join us next year and are not already a Follower Of Rupert click here for membership details. We look forward to seeing you at the next annual meeting!

Links to Rupert items in stock:-

All Rupert items
Rupert (General)
Rupert Adventure Series
Rupert Annual
Rupert Annual pre 1970
Rupert Little Bear Library