Princess Tea has a lot of sparkle

[June 06, 2011]  The Lincoln Christian Church Fellowship Center was the setting Saturday for the third annual Princess Tea, in what has become quite a social event. Little girls along with moms, grandmas, aunts and cousins enjoyed finger foods, snacks and refreshments in a fanciful setting created partly by the organizers, but mostly by the attendees themselves. The Princess Tea is a fundraiser for the church's Harvest of Talents for World Hunger, held each October for the last 28 years.

This year's theme, chosen by event chair Julie King, was "Find Your Sparkle."

When participants register for the tea, they are instructed to create a corresponding theme for their individual tables and use their imaginations to express that theme with table settings, centerpieces and, if they wish, costumes.

Attendees are expected to dress in formal attire or, at least, above and beyond their everyday wardrobe. It is a good time to bring out the bridesmaid's dress, Easter clothes and other fancy and nice pieces that usually have no place to go.

The Princess Tea focuses on young ladies ages 3 to 12, but Saturday it was hard to tell who enjoyed the event more, the little girls and adolescents or their older counterparts. Where else could you go all dressed up to be served fancy finger sandwiches on real plates, and top off lunch with teapot-shaped cookies and palm-sized, strawberry-filled, heart-shaped scones?  

According to Wanda Fitzsimmons, a member of the Harvest of Talents committee and a volunteer kitchen helper and server at the Princess Tea, the event is being copied by organizations in other towns.

"We came up with this idea to give the little girls something special because we sponsor the Spring for Tea for ladies earlier in the year," Fitzsimmons said.

"A few years ago we realized another event could be geared to young girls who would otherwise never, or hardly ever, get the chance to dress up and attend a fancy luncheon. It has gone over very well," she continued. "This year, the Princess Tea has attracted 120 people -- girls and their moms, grandmas, etc. -- and filled 15 tables. It gets bigger every year."

After the luncheon, the audience was treated to entertainment provided by Sheralyn and Sadie Bolton. Sheralyn performed a one-woman show, "A Very Fairy Princess," sharing aloud the trials and tribulations of being a fairy princess -- encountering her brother's ridicule and teachers' objections to her props. But she still believed in herself and what she wanted to be. Her message to the girls was they could be special, like a fairy princess, by finding their "sparkle." Sheralyn's daughter, Sadie, 8, was the narrator.  

[By MARLA BLAIR]