LADIES JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

by
Maryann Miller

Last year the Northeast Texas Child Advocacy Center (NETCAC) held a special dinner/fundraiser that had local ladies celebrating their "child within" with games, prizes, costumes, and specially themed tables. That was such a huge success, that the agency held the event again on July 24th at First Baptist Church fellowship hall in Winnsboro. Amy McMillion (below) who was the hostess for the Press Table, said that she thought there were a lot more ladies in attendance this year. "I know we have several more tables than we did last year," she said. "And I'm so glad. This is such a fun evening and I know everyone likes to let loose and play a little."

Amy, who is a florist at Hornbuckle Flowers in Winnsboro, is a great supporter of NETCAC. As hostess of the press table, she decorated it with help from some of the other volunteers, as well as some creative youngsters from Footsteps to Learning, a Winnsboro Day Care and Pre-School. The children were asked to write some news stories in case members of the press missed their daily input from the wire services.

Here is just a sampling of the news the children reported:

"Today a racoun was fond deda in a thorn bush."

"At Autumn Trails has a bare on the lose. It attached a 50-yere old man. Plece say he was playing with it becus hes son darde hem to."

"1965. Today the first man walked on the moon. They stad (stayed) for 3 days and 3 nights. It seems to be that when you sepe (step) on the moon the pretes (prints) stays there."

The news stories were accompanied by some delightful illustrations.

A big part of the fun of the evening was the opportunity to play like a child again, and the table hostesses went all out in creating magical places for their guests to enjoy. Each table had a theme and the hostesses dressed up in costumes to reflect that scene.

Pricilla Massey and Jennie Beasley had great farmer costumes for their tables, "Old McDonald" and "Horsin' Around." Some of their guests dressed appropriately, too, but that was a matter of choice for guests. Missy Duke and her mother, Mary Roberts, and her aunt, Ann Horlander chose to dress up. Ann was visiting from Indiana and she said of course she came all that way just to play.

(Standing L-R: Pricilla and Jennie. Seated L-R: Ann, Mary, Missy.)

At each table were hostess gifts and lots of things to play with. At a princess table titled "A Knight to Remember" guests had jewelry to wear, including a tiara, and pictures of princesses and knights to color.

Cheryl Bankas, the hostess, said she just started as a volunteer about a month ago. She lives in Quitman and is the new secretary of the Quitman chapter of NATCAC. "This is a lot of fun," she said. "And I will definitely do it again next year."

(Standing: Cheryl. Seated L-R: Gayl Suits, from Cedar Hill, Donna Smith, Cheryl's mother, Bridget Perhot, Dani Hettich, and Pat Mahaffe.)

Early in the evening guests got to vote for their favorite table, and it didn't have to be the one they were sitting at unless they truly loved their hostess.

The tables were all so wonderful that it was hard to chose just one, but this year's winner was Imelda Tatsch with “Grandi’s Cookie Day” theme. She was genuinely surprised to win, and Danielle Rorhbeck (NETCAC Winnsboro volunteer chapter President) said there must be something about tables with food winning, because last year's winner had a cooking theme.

(Standing: Imelda. Seated L-R: Lela Groves, Mable Thompson, Amy Owens.)

Danielle, who asked not to have her picture taken, was the MC, and she did a wonderful job, interjecting little jokes that were just one more layer added to the fun of the evening.

Also early in the evening a "Queen for the Day" was randomly selected. Lisa Bryant from Pickton was honored with flowers and a ribbon. This was her second year to attend, and she was really pleased to win. "I came this year because I really enjoyed myself so much last year," she said. "And this just makes it that much more fun."

The dinner was delicious BBQ from Bodacious BBQ, with desert from Frostings, who provided this cleverly-decorated cake.

The dinner was served by the girls from Holy Highway, a sanctuary for troubled teenage girls that offers counseling and faith-based programs to help them turn their lives around. There are currently 15 girls living there, and they all turned out to help with the fund-raiser.

The girls also provided entertainment by singing a number of songs, and it was obvious that the spirit was with them..

They did a moving A cappella rendition of "Amazing Grace" then followed that with "This Little Light of Mine." They did a couple of other hymns, signing on one of them, then one of the girls, Samantha, gave a moving testimony about her journey from an abusive, troubled life to a new place with the Lord. She said it was not an easy journey, "I always thought this was the way things should be so it took a long time to find out otherwise."

Samantha said she is grateful to Holy Highway for all the help she received there, as well as NETCAC, where she has received counseling for two years.

Jennifer Williams, who is the volunteer coordinator at NTCAC, said she is grateful to the girls for all they contributed to the evening. "Not only for assisting with the meal," she said. "But also providing angelic vocals and a heartwarming testimonial. They were a blessing to have!"

Jennifer also wanted to thank all the sponsors who donated food, door prizes, raffle items, and gift items. The primary sponsors were First National Bank and Onley Insurance. Silent Auction, Raffle, Door Prize and Food Donations came from: Holly Lake Ranch Resort, Helen Hukari, Key Drug, Ladles to Linens, Subway, Hornbuckle, Tickled Pink, Imelda Tatsch, Timeless Scents, Red Hat Society, Calico Junction, Candyland Creations, East Texas Prime Properties, Kellers Creamery, Bodacious BBQ, Nadine Shafer, and Frostings.

"Without this kind of support from the community and businesses, we would not have been able to raise so much money to help the children in East Texas," Jennifer said.

The primary goal of the annual dinner is just to have fun: Playing can be such a stress-reliever. But NETCAC also hopes to spread the word about the organization and what it does for the children in an eight-county area of East Texas. It is a place where children, up through the age of 17, can come for assistance when they have been abused. The NETCAC motto is: "Breaking the Cycle of Abuse, One Child at a Time."

NETCAC offers some of their services for free, depending on grants, donations, and volunteer support to allow them to do that. For more information about the agency and to see how you might be able to help check the Web site or call 903-629-7588.