GooseBook’s fortunes fell on Friday after Thursday morning’s announcement that cackle-enabled devices will not be lent to filmgoers this year nor will they even be allowed inside the Park Cinema during PIFF 2013’s Noon Nuttiness screenings.

The social network site, which is the parent company of cackle (as well as peck), stood to add to its financial base through a group of private investors who had planned to support the company in its new endeavours. But after Thursday’s announcement by PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot, the group withdrew its offer of support, a spokesAnimal for the investors told The Mammalian Daily.

“The group [of investors] does not feel that the time is right for them to invest in GooseBook. Unfortunately, Park Animals continue to associate the company with the violence that broke out during the 2012 Noon Nuttiness screenings, even though the company was not involved in any way and publicly condemned the violence. Although the group is supportive of GooseBook, it has decided to hold off allying itself with the company until such time as GooseBook is able to repair its relationship with the public,” the spokesAnimal said.

Although some financial experts regard the loss of these private investors as “sounding the death knell” for GooseBook, the company’s CEO and President, Lester C. Gander said in a statement today that he is confident the company will find the support it needs “from both the public and investors.”

GooseBook was the brainchild of the late Cesar Emilio Gander, who founded the site while a student at the University of West Terrier. After his untimely death in 2009, as a result of a collision with a passenger aircraft, Lester Gander assumed the position of CEO and President. With Gander at the helm, the company has grown and the membership of all three social media sites has tripled in the past year.

FFFC has established a fund in memory of playwright Imogen Aardeekhoorn

The Founding Families Financial Corporation (FFFC) announced last night that it has established a fund in memory of beloved Park playwright, Imogen Aardeekhoorn. Aardeekhoorn died last month at her burrow.

In a press release dated August 1, the date of Aardeekhoorn’s memorial, Chief Financial Officer Karita Isbjørn said that in keeping with the corporation’s longtime support of the arts, the fund was established to assist emerging Park playwrights “whose truths may well sustain us through the ages.”

According to the press release, the fund will receive an initial one-time lump sum payment from the FFFC. Every year thereafter, the FFFC will match donations from Park residents and businesses. There is no established limit on the matching donations.

Founding Families also confirmed that it intends to hire a full-time, independent fund administrator who will, in turn, institute a “rotating council of artists and citizens” whose job it will be to choose the yearly beneficiaries.

The fund’s official date of establishment will be January 1, 2015. The first beneficiaries will be chosen in 2016.

The Park’s largest financial institution, Founding Families Financial Corporation was established by a number of The Park’s original families, including Groundhogs, Ground Squirrels, Arachnids, Hedgehogs, Beavers, Wasps, Polar Bears, Cattle and Bees, among others. It has a long history of supporting the arts and has been a regular contributor to the annual Part Art Walk (PAW).