Best Fashion Show Ever

A very unique event once again took place this year in our city. Wesmor Community High School hosted its second annual fashion show last week. While fashion shows are not unique, this one is part of a wonderful program started by two teachers three years ago as a way to help their graduating students enjoy their special day.

Many of the girls who graduate from Wesmor Community High School cannot afford to buy new dresses for their graduation.  The two Wesmor teachers decided that the graduates should enjoy their day. The students have worked hard to achieve this milestone, many having to deal with other issues at home and in the community.  These wonderful educators decided the graduating girls should not have to worry about money to buy a graduation dress. They knew that for some of their students, there simply was no money for dresses and those students would likely miss their graduation day.  Well, that was not going to be the case any longer in this community school.

The teachers began a dress-sharing program, not sure how it would be received by those they were asking for donations from or by the girls themselves.  The call was put out for gently-used dresses.   The response was nothing short of incredible.  Used dresses were donated by people throughout the city. Local dress shops donated new dresses. The used dresses were cleaned by local drycleaners at no cost.  The community came together and many people went out of their way to ensure that graduates would have a day to remember. 

The graduates can purchase the dresses for $25. The program now has many dresses for students to access. This wonderful arrangement allows students to become excited about graduating and helps them strive to work hard at school. They can look forward to their graduation without worrying about finances.

Last year, a fashion show was organized, with Wesmor students serving as models.  The show was a huge hit and so it was held again this year.

Last week, the soon-to-be graduates took part in a fashion show in which they showed off the beautiful dresses in the dress-sharing program. Two young men escorted the models and were given the suits they modeled for their graduation day.

The students glowed with pride as they modeled the dresses. Each model was beautiful and their pride and confidence was very evident.  What a wonderful program these dedicated and creative teachers have come up with! The graduates can truly enjoy their day and their beautiful dresses, knowing they can afford to have the perfect graduation day every young woman dreams of.

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It is amazing what people can do when they decide to help one another.  I love that this story happened right here in our city and that two people came up with an idea that is making life a little better for so many young people.  In order for this plan to become a reality, many people had to participate and be willing to give – but it started with only two people and a little idea they had.  It is easy to be overwhelmed by the things that are out of our control and the issues they cause, however this proves once again that we can find unique solutions to everyday problems by working together and sometimes, by leading the way in trying something new.  We don’t have to change the world, but we can make our part of the world better.

Well done, Wesmor Community High School.  Seeing a need and making a plan . . . it's a good thing!

Easter Memories

I hope you are having a wonderful Easter week-end and enjoying time with family and friends. I always enjoy the opportunity to get together with loved ones for special occasions.
When my boys were little, our tradition was to decorate Easter eggs on Good Friday. Every year, cousins and friends would gather at our house, we would mix different colours of dye in many cups and everyone could decorate as many eggs as they wanted. It seemed that each year, something new was available for sale to create even better and brighter eggs: shrink wraps, hot colours, sparkles, special crayons – the list was never ending. Many tiny hands created wonderful master pieces which were proudly used for decorations throughout the house when we gathered for our Easter dinner. As I look back through photo albums, I have pictures of so many relatives and friends who took part in our Easter egg decorating day over the years. The eggs never went to waste. After Easter, the eggs were pickled and a week or so later, the adults (mostly the male adults) would enjoy pickled eggs.
One of my favorite Easter memories is of the year my husband’s sister and brother-in-law were at our house with their two children. Their son was around six years old and was starting to question the existence of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. We tried to convince him there was indeed an Easter Bunny, but he went to bed still wondering – although he did leave his Easter basket out, just in case. We lived in the country at the time and that spring there were a lot of rabbits going through our yard. On Easter morning, he awoke to find his basket filled. Shortly after breakfast, his uncle took him out for a walk and, sure enough, they found rabbit tracks! He ran into the house and excitedly took his Mom that there was truly an Easter bunny because he had just seen his tracks! It would be a couple more years before he figured out the truth, but it gave him two more Easters to enjoy the magic of the Easter bunny.
Easter at our house was a little like Christmas. The Easter baskets were filled with a few candies and chocolates, but the majority of the treats were toys and, later on, video games and movies. The boys would wake up in the morning excited to see what treasures awaited them once they found their basket.
Of course, the highlight of Easter has always been our family gathering on Easter Sunday. When I was younger, it was at my grand-parents, then at Mom and Dad’s and now we have our own Easter meal with our children. The generations come and go, things change, life goes on, but the one constant is the joy of getting together as a family to celebrate special occasions.
Enjoying special times with special people . . . it’s a good thing!