THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610020165
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: PRIME TIME COLUMN
SOURCE: PAM STARR
LENGTH: 78 lines
Wanted: A few good men to play Prince Charmings to a few Cinderellas.
Sentara Nursing Center on Newtown Road is looking for about 10 male volunteers to escort lady residents to a Halloween Ball Oct. 31 at 2 p.m.
The facility is celebrating a weeklong Cinderella theme during Oct. 25-31 for its mostly female residents, and it needs men - just for a few hours - to help make these women feel like princesses. Senior activity director Deborah Freeman said that they were trying to pull the princes from the center but came up almost empty-handed.
``We don't have many men here,'' she said. ``That week we want to make all the ladies feel like Cinderella, and we're looking for some escorts. The idea is to share some company for a little while.''
The Cinderella week (dubbed ``Sentarella'') is going to be a magical one. Residents will build a castle one day and enjoy having their hair and makeup done another day. The movie ``Cinderella'' will be shown. Residents also will be vying for the title of Sentarella that week, and the winner will be announced before the ball. A final touch of luxury will be the carriage that takes the residents to the gala.
What Freeman would like to see are charming men stepping forward to spend some time with frequently-lonely residents. This is not an attempt to matchmake, she emphasized, and married men are certainly welcome to escort the ladies. She thought that maybe members of Lion's clubs, the VFW or other clubs would be game for the ball.
``We're looking for men who are good conversationalists with personality galore,'' Freeman said. ``We would like them to wear a suit and tie, but I wouldn't want to scare someone off because he's not dressed a certain way. I think it's going to be a lot of fun.''
And what do the men get in return?
``Good feelings and the knowledge that you've done a good deed,'' said Freeman.
The 27th annual Senior Crafters Christmas Shop is poised to open its doors Oct. 12 in the Great American Outlet Mall.
This is the second year that the shop, which houses the homemade crafts of about 300 seniors, has been in the mall. The move was a profitable one, said manager Frances Murray. The first year in that location they earned more than $100,000, up from $85,000 the previous year.
``Last year was very good,'' she said. ``We had quite a few shoplifters, but you have to take the good with the bad. We earned about $100,000.''
The Great American Outlet Mall donates the 12,000-square-foot space to the shop, which holds thousands of handcrafted items such as ornaments, ceramics, baby clothes, afghans, wood items, jewelry, dolls, knitted and crocheted items and holiday items (including Halloween and Thanksgiving). Most of the crafters who use the Christmas Shop depend on the sale of their goods to supplement Social Security income.
``If we don't have it, nobody else does,'' Murray likes to say.
And they price their crafts pretty reasonably. Last year, for example, wreaths cost between $10 and $35, while afghans and quilts ran from $30 to about $85 for a twin bed. Most items cost from 50 cents to $30. The store keeps 15 percent of the sales to pay for tables, tickets to tag the items, tables, insurance against injuries and utilities. The rest goes directly to the crafters.
The shop is opening the weekend of Columbus Day, said Murray, because that's supposed to be a good time for the mall. The store hours will be Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. through Dec. 14. MEMO: If you would like to escort a lady to the Halloween Ball on
Oct. 31 from 2-3 p.m., contact Deborah Freeman at 461-8500. Sentara
Nursing Center is located on Newtown Road in Norfolk, just over the
Virginia Beach line.
For more information about the Senior Crafters Christmas Shop, call
340-4078. ILLUSTRATION: Staff file photo by CHARLIE MEADS
For the second year, Frances Murray will set up the Senior Crafters
Christmas Shop in the Great American Outlet Mall. Doors open Oct.
12. by CNB