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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
June 14, 2007     Shelton Mason County Journal
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June 14, 2007
 
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utter finds hel new role in life CA WELLS very serious, stressful at- of hospitals is all too to Lydia Wagner - and why now she's having fun brighter side to exactly She and her hus- have taken on clown as "Flutter" and "Dusty" and now make regu- m costume at Ma- pital. doing this in 2003 a friend invited them to Olympia's Red Nose Brigade, alley, as clown organiza- are called. Since then they learned about a wide array opportunities in hos- and nursing homes as well birthday parties and in en- and parades. :feel that I get so much more from the people I make hap- what I give them. Every gives me encour- to continue with this new of hospital clowning," Mrs. m time she's never re- t COnsidered herself a naturally Fun? Yes, but comi- necessarily. INSPIRATION for be- a hospital clown stems her own encounters with loss Zaedicine. Not only has she a cancer patient herself, she lost her brother to leukemia after having lost her fa- to cancer in 1997. "I'd been other end of hospitals," she her brother's fight with Wagner spent an extended amount of time at Fred Hutchin- son Cancer Research Center in Se- attle. "I know that hospitals and that whole environment is not a lot of fun, especially for someone that's going through cancer," she said. "I've read books and articles that talk about laughter being a healing force and I believe it be- cause I've experienced this first- hand." She said that "after losing my brother to leukemia, I felt such a loss and needed to find a way to heal." A friend in the Red Nose Brigade suggested clowning as a way to help her own healing. "She was right. I found that by making other people smile for a few min- utes and think about something other than their health situation', the pain in my heart began to lessen. I hope that my little bits of sunshine, laughter and silliness are doing the same for others," she says. The people she met in the clown brigade were just a kick and told her how rewarding clowning has been for them. WAGNER LOVES butterflies and has tailored her clown char- acter, Flutter, around this theme. This required her to put together a full look, complete with a costume, face makeup, hairstyle and an individual personality. This took Wagner a while to master. It takes her about an hour and a half to do her makeup and put on her costume. "Putting on clown makeup is a lot different than put- ting on makeup just because you want to look pretty, and it's dif- ferent than theatrical makeup, LYDIA WAGNER isn't just clowning around when she as- sumes the persona of Flutter while trying to cheer up peo- ple in the hospital. because you're creating an image and there's an art to that," she ex- plains. Her clowning started with vis- its to Capital Medical Center. "I really liked that you could just go into a room with the patient's permission and just brighten their day. I mean, just five minutes can really make a difference for a whole day," she considers, "because it's not fun sitting in a hospital room hour after hour after hour." This has a positive impact on the the patients' families and the hospital staff, as well. Recently, she and her husband moved from Olympia to Shelton, so Wagner de- cided to approach Mason General with her clowning endeavor. She called the hospital and found out it didn't have a clown program, but the volunteer coordinator ex- pressed interest in giving Wagner and her husband a try. Their first visit was as guest speakers at a luncheon meeting of the Mason General Hospital Auxiliary. "THAT WAS a lot of fun," Wag- ner recalls. Her clown character then ap- peared as a motivational speaker for the hospital's volunteer lun- cheon last May. By that time, the hospital had a new volunteer coordinator and she and Wagner clicked right away. "That went really well," Wagner says. From there, she had planned on start- ing to do hospital visits last year, but due to health problems, she Was unable to until about a month ago. "I'm looking forward to estab- lishing good, long-term relation- ships with all the staff at Mason General," Wagner says. She has included Oakland Bay Pediatrics on her circuit. Many of the little children she encountered at the clinic had never seen a clown before. "You have to be careful, because you're making a first im- pression that could stay with them their whole life," she considers. Since a number of horror films have involved clowns, they can even strike fear in some adults (Please turn to page 44.) RESTAURANT Make it one of Dad's Most Memorable Meals ()pen fbr Lunch & Dinner Mon-Sat Breakfast & l,unch, Sun 10-4 9 th Annual "GATHERING OF WARBIRDS" this Father's Day at Vern's Serving Breakfast & Lunch 10 to 4 Fine Dining & ('atering Serving Predominantly Northwest Wines Air Show Father's Day Weekend, June 16 8 17 at the Olympic Flight Museum The Museum is located on Old Highway 99 at the Olympia Airport "Old Town Hobby will be there. Will you?" Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 221 W, Railroad, Suite A, Shelton OPEN regular hours Richard Bidwell, Owner Tues-Sat 432..1026 Colors to Choose From Something • UALITY • S00Rv, . Free GitWrapping . OneYearlnterest'jEE . II II w/'.quiredMinimumPurca, seO.A.C, lml'V dlWqllW JI, JIL ]] Monday.Friday I 0:00-5:30 Saturday 10:00-2:00 IE, ' 'RI i i,i I II RECLINERS FOR DAD Starting at Choose from our huge in-stock selection! 414 Franklin, Downtown Shelton, OPEN DALLY 8:30 to 5:30 • Sunday & Holidays 11:00 to 4:00 360e426'4702 or CALL TOLL-FREE 1.800.456.4702 A Large Store with Small Pflees172 Yearn in Shelton , * Same Family Ownership, We Do It Rightl i I Remember L, 00;00ctor ....... for FATHER'S DAY 0 ,-,SPECI00.LS,-, #I THAI YOGA STRETCHING EXPERIENCE An INCREDIBLY AWESOME EXPERIENCE: She does all the work; you enjoy, Regularly $90 for 90 minutes NOW ONLY $45 Evening appointments available - call now #2 FACIAL SKIN CARE TREATMENT W/HAIRCUT 1-1/2 hour session $75 Call for other Father's Day specials Visit us at www.thelafactor.com for web specials e-mail: thelafactor@aol,com • 427-3 | 89 117 N. 8th St., Ste. 1 O0. She,on, WA Thursday, June 14, 2007 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 33 utter finds hel new role in life CA WELLS very serious, stressful at- of hospitals is all too to Lydia Wagner - and why now she's having fun brighter side to exactly She and her hus- have taken on clown as "Flutter" and "Dusty" and now make regu- m costume at Ma- pital. doing this in 2003 a friend invited them to Olympia's Red Nose Brigade, alley, as clown organiza- are called. Since then they learned about a wide array opportunities in hos- and nursing homes as well birthday parties and in en- and parades. :feel that I get so much more from the people I make hap- what I give them. Every gives me encour- to continue with this new of hospital clowning," Mrs. m time she's never re- t COnsidered herself a naturally Fun? Yes, but comi- necessarily. INSPIRATION for be- a hospital clown stems her own encounters with loss Zaedicine. Not only has she a cancer patient herself, she lost her brother to leukemia after having lost her fa- to cancer in 1997. "I'd been other end of hospitals," she her brother's fight with Wagner spent an extended amount of time at Fred Hutchin- son Cancer Research Center in Se- attle. "I know that hospitals and that whole environment is not a lot of fun, especially for someone that's going through cancer," she said. "I've read books and articles that talk about laughter being a healing force and I believe it be- cause I've experienced this first- hand." She said that "after losing my brother to leukemia, I felt such a loss and needed to find a way to heal." A friend in the Red Nose Brigade suggested clowning as a way to help her own healing. "She was right. I found that by making other people smile for a few min- utes and think about something other than their health situation', the pain in my heart began to lessen. I hope that my little bits of sunshine, laughter and silliness are doing the same for others," she says. The people she met in the clown brigade were just a kick and told her how rewarding clowning has been for them. WAGNER LOVES butterflies and has tailored her clown char- acter, Flutter, around this theme. This required her to put together a full look, complete with a costume, face makeup, hairstyle and an individual personality. This took Wagner a while to master. It takes her about an hour and a half to do her makeup and put on her costume. "Putting on clown makeup is a lot different than put- ting on makeup just because you want to look pretty, and it's dif- ferent than theatrical makeup, LYDIA WAGNER isn't just clowning around when she as- sumes the persona of Flutter while trying to cheer up peo- ple in the hospital. because you're creating an image and there's an art to that," she ex- plains. Her clowning started with vis- its to Capital Medical Center. "I really liked that you could just go into a room with the patient's permission and just brighten their day. I mean, just five minutes can really make a difference for a whole day," she considers, "because it's not fun sitting in a hospital room hour after hour after hour." This has a positive impact on the the patients' families and the hospital staff, as well. Recently, she and her husband moved from Olympia to Shelton, so Wagner de- cided to approach Mason General with her clowning endeavor. She called the hospital and found out it didn't have a clown program, but the volunteer coordinator ex- pressed interest in giving Wagner and her husband a try. Their first visit was as guest speakers at a luncheon meeting of the Mason General Hospital Auxiliary. "THAT WAS a lot of fun," Wag- ner recalls. Her clown character then ap- peared as a motivational speaker for the hospital's volunteer lun- cheon last May. By that time, the hospital had a new volunteer coordinator and she and Wagner clicked right away. "That went really well," Wagner says. From there, she had planned on start- ing to do hospital visits last year, but due to health problems, she Was unable to until about a month ago. "I'm looking forward to estab- lishing good, long-term relation- ships with all the staff at Mason General," Wagner says. She has included Oakland Bay Pediatrics on her circuit. Many of the little children she encountered at the clinic had never seen a clown before. "You have to be careful, because you're making a first im- pression that could stay with them their whole life," she considers. Since a number of horror films have involved clowns, they can even strike fear in some adults (Please turn to page 44.) RESTAURANT Make it one of Dad's Most Memorable Meals ()pen fbr Lunch & Dinner Mon-Sat Breakfast & l,unch, Sun 10-4 9 th Annual "GATHERING OF WARBIRDS" this Father's Day at Vern's Serving Breakfast & Lunch 10 to 4 Fine Dining & ('atering Serving Predominantly Northwest Wines Air Show Father's Day Weekend, June 16 8 17 at the Olympic Flight Museum The Museum is located on Old Highway 99 at the Olympia Airport "Old Town Hobby will be there. Will you?" Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 221 W, Railroad, Suite A, Shelton OPEN regular hours Richard Bidwell, Owner Tues-Sat 432..1026 Colors to Choose From Something • UALITY • S00Rv, . Free GitWrapping . OneYearlnterest'jEE . II II w/'.quiredMinimumPurca, seO.A.C, lml'V dlWqllW JI, JIL ]] Monday.Friday I 0:00-5:30 Saturday 10:00-2:00 IE, ' 'RI i i,i I II RECLINERS FOR DAD Starting at Choose from our huge in-stock selection! 414 Franklin, Downtown Shelton, OPEN DALLY 8:30 to 5:30 • Sunday & Holidays 11:00 to 4:00 360e426'4702 or CALL TOLL-FREE 1.800.456.4702 A Large Store with Small Pflees172 Yearn in Shelton , * Same Family Ownership, We Do It Rightl i I Remember L, 00;00ctor ....... for FATHER'S DAY 0 ,-,SPECI00.LS,-, #I THAI YOGA STRETCHING EXPERIENCE An INCREDIBLY AWESOME EXPERIENCE: She does all the work; you enjoy, Regularly $90 for 90 minutes NOW ONLY $45 Evening appointments available - call now #2 FACIAL SKIN CARE TREATMENT W/HAIRCUT 1-1/2 hour session $75 Call for other Father's Day specials Visit us at www.thelafactor.com for web specials e-mail: thelafactor@aol,com • 427-3 | 89 117 N. 8th St., Ste. 1 O0. She,on, WA Thursday, June 14, 2007 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 33