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Knowing that the holidays are a time of get-togethers with friends and family, two sisters got the idea of how to keep those good times rolling throughout the year, by playing a game that evoked all of the fond memories, high points and funny predicaments in the name of fun and friendship. Now, those best of times can be shared by those closest to you - at any time.

The game that Callie and Pamela Weiant invented was Gamesake, a game and also a family keepsake where players move around a board and take steps forward and back. If a player lands on a "present," the player picks a card and reads the memory aloud and the follows the command. For instance, "Johnny gets all As on his first report card, move 3 spaces" or "Mary throws peas at Jimmy, go back 2 spaces to clean up the mess." Family members are encouraged to write down their memories during the year, and then when it comes time to play, all those good and not so good things will crop up during the game.

"Gamesake is actually a game my mom, Joan, invented," said Callie Weiant, who lives in Colorado while her sister resides in California. The family was originally from New Jersey.

"We played it growing up and loved it as kids. Every year at Christmas, we wrote down all the funny things in life that make for perfect cards, For example, one year we took a trip to a ghost town and my dad got stuck in a ditch and we had to wait for six hours for a tow truck," she said.

"My family had joked about marketing the game for years. It was something we talked about in the abstract for a long time. And now we finally decided to turn it into a company." The company is called Jocapa Products LLC and is based in Colorado. Jocapa represents the first two letters of the Weiant women responsible for developing the game -Joan, Callie and Pamela.

In February 2004, the sisters debuted their childhood game as Wedding Gamesake at the annual Toy Fair in New York City.

It was a huge hit. So the sisters went to work on Christmas Gamesake and Birthday Gamesake. All three are available at Children of the World, 6 West Main St., Westboro. (508) 366-7702. The Classic Toy Shop, 198 Park Ave., Worcester. (508) 755-3629 or Sister's Kids, 900 Allen St., Springfield. (413) 796-3900.

It is also available on the Internet through the company's Web site at www.gamesake.com.

Callie said, "I was a lawyer for a while and my sister and I decided that we'd try this. So far, it's been great. At the Toy Fair, people were telling us, 'We've been coming here for 20 years and we've never seen anything like this.' " But the sisters aren't stopping at three games. Soon, they'll introduce a game for anniversaries, graduations, bar mitzvahs, and so on. "It just really lends itself to any special occasion," Callie said.

By playing the various Gamesakes, families instantly create a treasure trove of memories that the best diary can't duplicate, Callie said. "And kids love it because they get to create a game that's all about them.

"We've tailored the boards to fit the occasion. For Christmas, it's a journey around the world as if you were Santa, so players start at the North Pole and you go around the world.

"For birthdays, the board recalls your life from basinet to the current birthday cake. And along the way, you could recall all the major events in life: going to school, getting

your first job, getting married, buying a house, having children and other milestones, with all friends and family involved." The business side is shared between the two sisters, who now work full time on trying to market the game nationwide.

Callie said, "Running your own business is certainly more flexible than working a 'regular' job, but I'm probably working twice as hard. The kids go to bed and I'm up till 2 a.m. There's just a lot to be done, between the accountants, marketing and salespeople.

"We're the manufacturer and we hire a company to make the boards in the United States, in Michigan and we warehouse them and ship them from there." Colorado currently leads the nation in sales but California and the Chicago area do very well, too, Callie said.

The games are sold in Marshall Field's department store in Chicago and in Spilsbury catalogs this holiday season.

Jocapa Products LLC, PO Box 1036, Boulder, CO 80306-1036. (303) 921-6680.

Copyright © 2004. Worcester Telgram & Gazette.