A few passing clouds. Low 64F. Winds light and variable..
A few passing clouds. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
Bourbonnais resident Abigail Van Kley holds a kitten named Boone on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation. Van Kley would fill out an application to adopt Boone before leaving the event.
Kittens play on a chair at the Bourbonnais Public Library on Saturday during the library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Kittens interact with guests on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Bourbonnais resident Abigail Van Kley fills out an application to adopt a kitten on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation. Van Kley would meet and apply to adopt Boone at the event.
Amber Hartline, of Bourbonnais, snuggles with a kitten on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Joelle Trudeau, of Momence, pets a kitten on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Bourbonnais resident Abigail Van Kley holds a kitten named Boone on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation. Van Kley would fill out an application to adopt Boone before leaving the event.
Kittens play on a chair at the Bourbonnais Public Library on Saturday during the library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Kittens interact with guests on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Bourbonnais resident Abigail Van Kley fills out an application to adopt a kitten on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation. Van Kley would meet and apply to adopt Boone at the event.
Amber Hartline, of Bourbonnais, snuggles with a kitten on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
Joelle Trudeau, of Momence, pets a kitten on Saturday during the Bourbonnais Public Library's inaugural Cat Cafe event hosted in conjunction with the Kankakee County Humane Foundation.
The cat was out of the bag Saturday at Bourbonnais Public Library. More like eight of them.
A pop-up cat cafe took place at the library, with adoptable kittens from Kankakee County Humane Foundation. Seven were from the same litter, and one was a tad older than her shelter pals.
The first-ever event was organized by adult services supervisor Becca Maree in conjunction with KCHF.
“It’s on theme because our summer reading program is called FurBonnais,” Maree said. “We thought this would be a great opportunity to allow folks to meet some of the cats that are at the shelter and perhaps find them their forever homes.”
In the library is a themed display of animal-related reads. At the front entrance is month-long Wet Pet Food Drive to benefit Kankakee Animal Control.
The cafe ran for four hours, and patrons could sign up for 30-minute slots to visit with the kittens. Coffee and pastries were donated by the Bourbonnais Starbucks.
“This is also a wonderful opportunity to get the kittens socialized to people,” Maree pointed out.
Jordan Chapman, director of KCHF, said the litter of seven kittens arrived at the shelter in two cardboard boxes that were “completely packing-tape shut.”
The kittens now are doing well and are about 10 weeks old.
Like every other group of animals that has come through KCHF’s doors, this crew has themed names. The older female kitten was named Boone, which inspired pirate-themed names.
The kittens’ current names are: Kraken, Rum, Davy Jones, Dabloon, Tortuga, Calypso and Cannon.
Because of the condition in which they arrived, Chapman said the cats were a bit unfriendly at first. There were a total of nine in the boxes, and two were adopted before the cafe.
“Until about four days into realizing we had wet food for them everyday, they were real friendly real quick,” Chapman said.
Two of the eight cats were adopted as a result of the event. Boone was adopted by Abigail Van Kley, of Bourbonnais.
And Tortuga stole the heart of the library’s Maree, who added the cat to their family.
“My partner and I adopted the kitten who was formerly known as ‘Tortuga’ and named him ‘Boolean Radley’ to combine ‘boolean operators’ [which are used in the library science world to focus a search] with ‘Boo Radley’ from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’” Maree said after the event.
This is not the library’s first venture with KCHF. In the children’s section of a library is a rabbit named Sir Edmund Winterbottom, who was adopted through the foundation.
The following events are all part of the FurBonnais summer reading program.
• Animal Crossing Party: 1 p.m. Saturday; Registration required.
• Messy Family Art Night: 6 p.m. June 27; Registration required.
• Community Read of Funny Farm by Laurie Zaleski: 10 a.m. June 30.
• Read to a Cat: 10 a.m. July 12; Registration required.
• Read to a Cat: 3 p.m. July 26; Registration required.
• Pet Rock Pals: 1 p.m. July 16; Registration required.
• A Crew of Critters with Olivet Animal Outreach: 6 p.m. July 18; Registration required.
• Paw Patrol Party: 10 a.m. July 19; Registration required.
• Dog Treat Decorating: 1 p.m. July 23; Registration required.
• Crafternoon: Stamped Leather Pet Tags: 1:30 p.m. July 27; Registration required.
• Community Read of The Friend by Sigrid Nunez: 10 a.m. July 28.
Taylor Leddin-McMaster is Life editor of The Daily Journal and editor of Lifestyles of Kankakee County. A graduate of Illinois State, she was featured as a prominent journalist by Thrive Global. Email: tleddin@daily-journal.com.
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