THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604180175
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Shortly before Easter, a slender woman was seen slipping into a local bookstore with a package.
In and out quickly, she then stopped at a private home and a local gallery - dropping off more packages as she went.
Much like the nocturnal and mysterious creature who moves from basket to basket every spring, Sandy Jett Ball of Colington was making rounds for the holiday.
Only, her surprise packages took seven years to complete. And, like her good friend, the Easter Bunny, her actions were a seasonal kind of thing.
If you drop by Manteo Booksellers or Crafters Gallery, you'll see the fruit of her labor. A new children's book - though I suspect adults will delight in its timeless magic as well - is on the shelf.
``Wellington Easter Bunny or The True Story of How Wellington Became the Easter Bunny,'' was available before any of our furry friends had the chance to make their rounds.
Easter has always been a special time for the Ball family. The holiday inspired Sandy to make some special gifts for her five children - and later to turn those gifts into the story of Wellington.
It began with a little cloth rabbit, complete with a magic cape, she hand-stitched in the late 1980s. Next came Uncle Wells with his spectacles, then Georg the fuzzy gray bear.
As a finishing touch, Sandy typed a special inscription describing the gifts she'd sewn. And the story of Wellington was born.
A paragraph turned into two, then a few pages eventually became many. Wellington spoke through her. ``Because the more I wrote, the more he told me,'' Sandy said of the magical happening.
To read the story, one can have no doubts of this.
Sandy has woven a tale, much like the magic cape of Wellington's, threaded with love and caring.
Wellington is a good-natured sort who is next in line for the special job of Easter Bunny. But, as Sandy explains, it takes dedication and effort to reach his goal.
At first, the book had no illustrations. Sandy would include a photograph of the stuffed bunnies and bear she had made for her children. But her audiences told her she really needed drawings.
``I was resistant about doing the illustrations,'' she said. ``I didn't think I could get the characters to look like I wanted them to.''
She started collecting pictures from magazines of interiors and things that felt ``Wellington-ish.'' While visiting her aunt Miriam, an artist and writer in Reedville, Va., Sandy realized that her aunt's home was really Wellington's.
So her husband, Donny, took pictures of Miriam's place, a place that Sandy actually remembered as a child as being dark and no fun at all. But after returning as an adult, she was fascinated by the woody interior filled with books and baskets, figurines and fun things nestled in crooks and crannies.
Sandy's illustrations began to take shape and grew into a wonderful collection of memories from her youth. Her grandmother's 1930s stove, The Old Home Comfort Stove, found its way into the book, along with her grandmother's tea cart.
Sandy even preserved the memory of the beloved old family homeplace in Virginia that had been torn down, by placing a picture of it in Wellington's home.
I am sure that some time, somewhere down the lane, more stories of Wellington and bunny love will come hopping out of Sandy's heart.
She hopes to add color to the black-and-white pictures, and eventually, if the price is right, Wellington will be immortalized in hardback.
For now, he has a cozy home in children's hearts, where he can thrive year-round. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Sandy Jett Ball of Colington reads her new children's book,
``Wellington Easter Bunny or The True Story of How Wellington Became
the Easter Bunny'' to a youthful audiuence.
by CNB