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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