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We had a great party on March 8, 2008 at Gilda's Club
Texas. We had over 50 children in attendance 31 girls and 20 Boys!!!
Our visiting royalty included Faith Bates, Miss Hunt County 2008(MA0),
Kaitlyn Wilson, Miss Hunt County's Outstanding Teen 2008 (MAO),
Hoang-Kim
Cung Miss Texas Jr. Teen 2007-2008(NAM), Andrea Walker, Mrs. Texas
Classic Beauty 2007, LeeAnna Walker, Miss Van Oil 2005. Plus, some very
handsome Police officers from the City of Dallas and some competition
for them....the Fire Fighters from the City of Dallas too.
This party just came together. We only had a few children rsvp by March
1, so we thought this would be a small party, but by March 5, there were
over
40 children confirmed. Then on March 6, 2008, the entire Dallas area
was hit by a snow storm, in some areas, we had as much at a foot of
snow!!
Because, North Texas is not really equipped for that much accumulation,
we thought we would need to cancel the party, but by Saturday morning,
the sun
was out and the snow had melted! We thought we were in the clear, but
Saturday morning we got news that the fire truck that usually comes out
to visit us was have technical difficulties and would not be able to
attend. So the Police officers pitched in and gave rides in the squad
cars. Then, out of nowhere comes our Fire Department friends!!! It was
great!!! Everyone had fun; got to ride the fire truck, the squad car
and get makeovers. The boys got special photos with their beautiful
visiting queens and the girls got special photos with their men in
uniform...Did I mention that the visiting royalty and officers wanted
the same thing??? Hmmmm...Okay so we all had a blast.
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We hosted another great event at Gilda's Club Dallas on March 17,
2007.
We had 21 girls and 17 boys in attendance ranging in ages from 2
years- 14 years.
Our special guests included the Dallas Fire Department and Dallas
Police Officers, plus their vehicles. We also had Jacqueline Elliot,
Mrs. Dallas County International, Christie Kibler, Miss Lufkin MAO,
Lynn Taylor, Miss White Settlement MAO, Kelly Dillard, Ellis County's
Outstanding Teen, Andrea Walker, Mrs. World Outstanding Woman of
Achievement, LeeAnnna Walker and Morgan Walker, and the number Texas
and National International Miss delegates! (good thing we had so many
special guests!)
What can we say??? It was a great time for all. Maybe it was Kelly
Dillard being arrested by the Dallas Police with the help of our
Heroes. Our maybe, it was Lt. Bull from the Dallas police wearing his
boa...Hmmm, ok, so we all got a little silly. But, we had FUN and that
is what QFAD is all about!!! Smiles were all around!
We may even show up in a PSA for Gilda's! The film crew followed our
every move and we made sure that they had some fun too!
There is a list starting for our next Gilda's party, hopefully, the
beginning of June. Some of our special guests are at the top of list.
Can't wait!
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We did 2 big parties for Gilda's Club. One in June and the other in
August.
The first event was on June 24, 2006.
We had 26 girls and 18 boys in attendance.
Special guests included the Dallas Police and Fire Dept. Ashleigh
Schmitz, Miss DFW Teen USA, Bailey Rogers, Ellis County's Outstanding
Teen, Misty McCoy, Mrs. Lonestar Texas, and Miriam Moya, Mrs.
Christian USA.
We had a blast with the police and fire vehicles. The kids had so
much fun that the event was supposed to only last an hour, but after 2
hours, we were still going strong.
This event was combined with the American Cancer Society.
The second event was on August 12, 2006
We had 24 girls and 8 boys.
Special guest included the Dallas Fire Dept. Ashleigh Schmitz, Miss
DFW Teen USA, Miriam Moya, Mrs. Christian USA, Miss Dallas USA, Miss
Dallas Teen USA, Miss Dallas County USA and Miss Dallas County Teen
USA.
We had some many queens that the girls got some great one on one
attention. Once the girls were all made up, we went outside to show
the boys (and the fire fighters) our STUFF!!! We even had an impromtu
fashion show.
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DATE:
January 14, 2006 |
| LOCATION:
Gilda's Club North Texas |
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We had 13 girls and 6 boys in attendance. Special
guests included the Dallas fire station and Ashleigh Schmitz, Miss DFW
Teen USA, Jamie Leigh Fraizer, Miss Ellis County MAO, Kelly Henson,
Ms. Texas Classic Beauty 2006, Jennifer Thompson, Ms. Texas Classic
Beauty 2005, Jacqueline Elliot, Mrs. Dallas County United States and
Andrea Sargeant, Miss Arlington USA.
It is always so great to be able to go to Gilda's, as
we are all welcome to drive the fire engines and make the sirens go
wild, this of course, is after the full spa pampering that our QFAD's
receive. The Heroes colored in their fire safety books and gave some
to our Fire fighter friends. It is always fun, so fun that we are
arranging to do an extra party each year!
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DATE:
November 22, 2005 |
| LOCATION:
Medical City |
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7 girls and 1 boy in attendance Ages 2
years-16 years.
Special guests were Ashleigh Schmitz,
Miss DFW Teen USA and Stayc Velarde, Mrs. Universal Achievement
Things started off slow for this party,
but I guess that is a good thing. Our first “Queen” was a boy who asked
if he could be the “King?” So we crowned him and played pool Then, the
girls started trickling in. We had 3 girls come to the party for makeup
and manicure fun and then, we hit the rooms to visit the girls that were
confined.
As always, seeing these children smile, was the best part of the day.
We are looking forward to being
back in February 2006!
Special thanks and congratulations to
Ashleigh Schmitz on her last official appearance before competing at
Miss Texas Teen USA. We are so proud of you!!
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DATE:
August 13, 2005 |
| LOCATION:
Gilda's Club |
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25 girls and 10 boys in attendance. Special guests were
Lt. Alan Bull, Dallas Police Dept., Candace Campfield, Miss North
Texas USA, Meghann Dodd, Miss Plano USA, Cristina Campfield, Miss
Dallas Teen USA, Ashleigh Schmidt, Miss DFW Teen USA, Gretchen Caudell,
Ms. Texas US Beauties. Erica Roberts, Mrs. Tx Classic Beauty '06
It is so great to be able to go to an event and see
familiar faces. With this being our 3rd Gilda's party, there were big
hugs from our old friends and bigger smiles from our new ones. We
were so lucky to have so many visiting queens because we had so many
girls!!!! Our official head count was off, I know because we went
thru all of our tiaras and gifts, there were too many girls to
count!!! So makeup and manicures were the way to go!
The sisters, Emori and Averi were back...Both, did
their own pedicures, feet on the table!! Then, it was time to help out
the visiting queens! It is a good thing we pack lots of polish
remover. We also got to see our friend Christina. All of the kids are
getting so big. But, to see them growing up, raises my spirits.
Everyday is a good day!!
The boys got to spend some time hanging with Lt. Bull.
In addition to playing board games and cops and robbers, all of the
boys got to take a ride in Lt. Bull's squad car. And, no neighbor was
sleeping in because each boy got to make the siren go off and say
"Freeze, hands up!" on the car microphone.
It was a great time. And time flies with so much to
do!!! We setup at 9:30am and at 12:30pm, we had to close up shop. We
could have kept partying all day long!! But, we are looking forward to
our next Gilda's party in January 2006.
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DATE: January 22, 2005 |
| LOCATION:
Gilda's Club |
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We had
15 girls and 6 boys that attended the party
Our
guests were Lt. Bull of the Dallas Police, Firestation 1 of Dallas , Ms
Full Figured DFW 2005, Miss DFW Teen USA 2004, Miss Ft.Worth Teen USA
delegate.
It was
great to be back at Gilda's Club. We had a blast and so did the kids..
We had Heroes in one room and Queens in another, plus Station 1 brought
their engine and Officer Bull brought his police car. The kids got to go
outside and play in both.
With so
many children there are so many stories. Of course, going into the fire
truck and playing with the sirens and lights. Lt. Bull let everyone sit
in the police car and play with the loud speaker, we definitely woke up
the neighborhood. All of the children were able to try on the fire gear
and "arrest" Lt.Bull. Not to mention the total "diva" treatment for the
girls. It was amazing watching 4 year olds, insist on applying their own
makeup. Plus, due to an amazing donation, we were able to give each
girl their own shadow, lip colors and glosses!!! A truly memorable day
for all!
We love
doing joint events!! It is so much fun!!!
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DATE: September 28,
2004 |
| LOCATION:
Cook's Children's Hospital |
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We hosted a Heroes party for 1 boy(age 3) and a Teen
QFAD party for 15 young ladies(ages 10-17)
Our guests were Miss Plano 2004(MAO), Tara Gibson, Miss
FT. Worth USA 2004, Amber Griggs, Miss Pre-Teen Ft. Worth 2005,
Adrienne Aston.
Our day started off slow, number one because there were
no boys and number two because our firefighter could not come due to
an emergency. So, we played "Stop, Drop and Roll' with our only Hero.
We had fun.
Then, one to QFAD. We only had one girl come to the
party area, but her doctor said he has never seen her smile so big in
the last 4 months of treatments!! Then,o we made room visits. And, we
made a lot!!! One of the girls had several other girls come to her
room, so it was like a pajama party. Another set of girls was in ICU,
so we got to make a special trip there.
And, finally, Jasmine...Jasmine was diagnosed with a
very rare blood cancer last year. She had been in remission for the
last 9 months, but it came back and there is nothing they can do.
Jasmine was weak, tired, not eating or drinking, when we visited. Her
mom told us that she was named after Jasmine in Aladdin, so Miss
Plano, sang, "A Whole New World" while she did Jasmine's make over.
When, we started to leave, Jasmine's face lit up with a beautiful
smile. Her mom was crying in the corner. She asked if we could
convince Jasmine to take her meds before we left. Jasmine did...
For the first time doing QFAD, I cried. I know we make
a difference, every day, but this time, moved me beyond words!! In
fact, the FT. Worth paper, The Star Telegram was with us the whole
time and Jasmine and Tara made the front page of the paper. Seeing
that photo made me realize how much we really do.
 photo
credit: Star-Telegram/Joyce Marshall
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DATE: September 23, 2004 |
| LOCATION:
Scottish Rite |
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We hosted our first party at Scottish Rites Hospital.
We had 8 girls ages 3-15.
And, I was our only guest/queen.
It was great going to a new hospital. All of the girls
and the Child Life coordinators loved the idea of doing makeovers and
dressing up. This was a new experience for us, since Scottish Rites
deals mostly with muscle/bone diseases, so we had to adapt some. But,
it was fun and educational for everyone!! We look forward to going
back in November!
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DATE: August 24, 2004 |
| LOCATION:
Cook's Children's Hospital |
|
Another great event.
We had 15 boys ages 2-10 and 5 teen girls ages 11-20.
We were visited by Capt. David Peterson of the Ft.
Worth Fire Dept. and Amber Griggs, Miss Ft. Worth USA
The Heroes event was very neat because Capt Peterson
brought coloring books and crayons. Then he brought a cartoon about
fire safety for us to watch. After the video, he put on all of his
protective gear and the kids got to wear it too.
It was nice to see everyone smiling and most of all,
Capt. Peterson. His daughter's best friend died a few months ago from
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and she was treated at Cook's. So, this was
extra special for him.
When we got to the teens, we got to do the girl thing,
mostly gossip. But, one of the girl's took this as an opportunity to
play a joke on our Child Life coordinator, Stacey. Apparently, the
hospital has been visited by a traveling gnome named, Gneed. He
visits only the best Child Life Coordinators. So, Gneed, got the QFAD
treatment with a tiara and boa and got his picture taken, so he could
send a postcard to Stacey. The girls had a blast planning this and
executing it and Gneed
seemed to have fun too!!!
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DATE: June 15, 2004 |
| LOCATION:
Cook's Children's Hospital |
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We had 10 girls ages 2-11 and 11 girls ages 12-18
Our guests included Miss Ft. Worth USA, , Miss
Northeast Tarrant County America, Miss Ft. Worth Teen USA, Miss DFW
Teen USA, Miss Teen Northeast Tarrant County America, Ms. Texas OWA,
and Miss Arlington USA
We started the afternoon off with our younger girls. As
usual we had a great time doing the makeover and manicures. The girls
never seem to get tired of all the attention. We did have a surprise,
a PBS film crew was visiting the hospital to do a special on
children's hospitals, so they came in to tape us doing the
makeovers...The girls thought it was "cool".
Then, it was time for the teens...Well, we had a bigger
surprise...The local CBS channel 11 came to do an exclusive piece on
our teen nite. All of the girls got to be included in the piece and a
few of the queens were interviewed. We also got to do a room visit to
a 15 year old and she was "crowned" on camera and given an exclusive
interview!!!
We had a great time!!!
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DATE: June 12, 2004 |
| LOCATION:
Gilda's Club, Dallas |
We had 16 girls and 16 boys that attended the party
Our guests were Lt. Bull of the Dallas Police,
Firestation 1 of Dallas and Stayc Velarde, Mrs. America Worldwide
This was our first Gilda's event and our first duo
event. We were so worried about having so many guests and making
things run smoothly. But, they did. We had Heroes in one room and
Queens in another, plus Station 1 brought their engine, so the kids
got to go outside and play in it The party was supposed to last from
2pm-3:30pm, but we were having so much fun we didn't notice the time.
The last family left after 4:30pm..
With so many children there are so many stories. Of
course, going into the fire truck and playing with the sirens and
lights. Lt. Bull playing on the floor with the boys. Stayc Velarde
doing makeovers and letting the girls borrow her sash. And the endless
hugs and kisses, we all got. A truly memorable day for all!
I highly suggest to other directors to have one of
your local stores donate a Kodak Easy Share Camera and printer/dock.
It has made my life so much easier. No need for Polaroids, cheaper,
easier to carry and I can keep the photos on one camera to send or
publish.
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DATE: May 24, 2004 |
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LOCATION:
Medical City Hospital, Dallas, TX |
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15 girls and boys ages 22 months to 14 years
Volunteers were Miss DFW Teen USA, Faith Bates and Mrs.
Texas United States, Edrienne Carpenter.
We gave out 15 tiaras and favors..
We did makeovers and manicures for 8 girls. But, the
funny thing was most of our patients were boys. We had a great tea
party with our new Disney tea set. Played with the children and made
4 room visits. One of the girls was just released from isolation and
we were her first visitors. She told us that it was great to have
someone to talk to because she was not allowed to have her guitar on
the ward. We made her laugh and smile and it made us all remember why
we do this
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DATE: April 26, 2004 |
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LOCATION:
Medical City Hospital, Dallas, TX |
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Our first Heroes party! We had 5 boys attend and we did
2 room visits. The boys were ages 2-12 years.
Officer R.J. Harr from the Coppell Police Dept. was our
guest.
We had so much fun. Officer Harr did a stranger danger
class and brought coloring books to all the boys. We played with them
and Officer Harr got arrested!!! Then, we went to the rooms and did
special visits to Trevor and Gage..Both were having bad days and when
we left, they were smiling ear to ear!!!
When each child received their goodie bag, I gave them
each a medal...I told them their medal was for being so brave and to
bring them a speedy recovery!
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DATE: April 14, 2004 |
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LOCATION:
Cook's Children's Hospital |
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We had 7 girls ages 3-11 (one came back from the night
before)
Volunteers were Miss Ft Worth USA, Amber Griggs and
Miss DFW Teen USA, Faith Bates
We gave out 8 tiaras and gift bags (we had a boy who
wanted to dress up too)
We had fun doing the makeovers and manicures. Then we
had our tea party. We could not have food on the floor, but we got to
pretend we were having tea and crumpets...Some of the girls thought I
was a little crazy playing pretend. But, everyone was smiling and
laughing!!! When it was time to go, 3 of the patients wanted us to
stay. We promised to come back next month!!!
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DATE:
April 13, 2004 |
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LOCATION:
Cook's Children's Hospital |
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8 girls ages 11-17
Volunteers were Miss Benbrooke Teen USA, Rachel Koch,
Miss DFW Teen USA, Faith Bates and Miss Ft Worth Teen USA, Mallory
Chain(also Mallory's mom Phyliss)
We gave out 8 tiaras and favors..The girls loved the
purses!!
We did the makeover and manicures. Let's face it, we
had all teenagers, even the queens, the makeovers were fun for all.
But, the gossip was better. The girls talked about the Miss USA
pageant from the night before. A few of the patients moms came to
visit, so we crowned them too.(they did not keep the tiaras, but it
was fun) They played games together. Then the queens made the rounds
to the rooms of the girls who could not come to the party. I am not
sure who loved it more, the queens or the patients!!!!
I highly advised Directors to think about doing an
exclusive "Teen" nite!!! It was our best party, yet!!!
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DATE: March
22, 2004 |
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LOCATION:
North Texas Children's Hospital at Medical City |
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We had 9 patients ranging in ages of 20 months to 12
years, 6 girls and 3 boys!!
We had 7 queens in attendance, including me. Miss
Dallas MAO, Brooke Hamilton, Miss Teen Ft. Worth USA, Mallory Chain,
Miss Teen DFW USA, Faith Bates, Miss Tarrant Co. USA, Amanda Gipson,
Ms. Texas Outstanding Woman in America, Dea McDaniels.
We gave out 7 tiaras(one of the boys wanted one) and 9
party bags. I brought "boy" party bags, just in case.
We did makeovers and manicures and played with the
children. It was such a great time. We had one little girl when
asked if she wanted a manicure and makeover, she said, "Of, course, I
love lipstick," and fanned out her fingers for the manicure. Later
on, she asked her mom if she could get all the pictures framed!! I
must say, it was a success!!!
One idea that I came up with was to bring an autograph
card for the visiting queens to sign. It had a picture of a queen on
it with flowers that said, "Thank you for being our Queen for a Day".
That way all of the patients had a memento poster for their rooms to
go with their pictures!!! All of the visiting queens loved the idea
because some did not have headshots to give away!!
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