Aug. 31, 2007

 Sir Purr Delivers

Cameron McCutcheon, left, had a little help from a friend when he delivered Friendship Trays Friday, Aug 31.

Sir Purr, the mascot of the Carolina Panthers football team, delighted recipients on a route. Purr's antics in the kitchen lifted spirits among Friendship Trays staff as well.

McCutcheon said Friday afternoon that one woman on his route rarely says more than a couple of words. But when Sir Purr arrived, she brightened up, gathered up her family and took pictures with the furry mascot. "It was hilarious," he said.

At another stop, while McCutcheon was delivering the meal, Sir Purr bounded out into the neighborhood. When McCutcheon caught up, Purr was four doors away greeting a neighbor.

McCutcheon was discrete, and never identified the person who performs for the Panthers, leaving it at "He's really, really good." Noonday temperatures were in the mid-80s, and probably a lot higher inside Purr's headgear.

 

    

Above left, Annie Cotten had her dog Peachy with her Friday -- and Peachy was not amused by Purr at all. The tiny dog has quite a bark, and Purr turned tail. In middle picture, Purr scurries away, and at right goes to hide in office. Purr later emerged to drive his route with McCutcheon and Panthers marketer Tara Masten.

There was one last picture worth sharing. It shows Friendship Trays' Steve Johnston and Masten in the foreground. It may not be quite in focus, and the world is a bit tilted. But you try to hit a camera shutter button with paws the size of melons. We'd say Sir Purr did quite well.

 

"I had more fun than anybody else," McCutcheon said after Friday's meals were delivered.

McCutcheon knows his meals: His mother Tia earlier served as executive director of Friendship Trays.

The last laugh -- or maybe a gentle poke in Cameron McCutcheon's ribs -- may come from another recipient on McCutcheon's route. When Sir Purr arrived, the recipient was asleep, a side effect of a bunch of new medications the recipent has had to take recently. "Why didn't my Cameron wake me up?" the recipient said by phone Friday afternoon. "Oh, that would have been so great."