As NorthPark stores were closing on Sunday, August 2, and the clean-up crew at Legos was mopping up, Build-A-Bear Workshop was just starting to party with guests of all ages.
More than 100 longtime Dallas CASA supporters proudly celebrated the launch of 19th Annual Parade of Playhouses presented by ORIX that is on display until Sunday, August 17. At the end of the run, a raffle will be held to find homes for the playhouses. The only ones missing seemed to be Honorary Co-Chairs Angela and Jim Thompson, who were out of town. But never fear. They will be at the drawing.
And while the Playhouse patrons may have enjoyed adult beverages and camaraderie, it was really a kids-for-all ages occasion. Dunia Borgia in her white chef’s jacket and hair pulled back doled out fresh pistachio ice cream with caramelized pistachios. Teddy bears were being brought to life with stuffing and fluffing as their new families watched in awe. Some even were lucky enough to get new ensembles as they were bundled in teddy bear carriers or stuffed in strollers.
Big brother Trevor Parrish was helping little brother Cole Parrish to pick out a bear. After all it was Cole’s birthday. . . When asked if Garrett Browning was going to get a bear, Mom Elizabeth Browning laughed, “Of course!”. . . Even big girls like Megan Redfern got a stuffed buddy. Hugging her new BFF, she was asked if she had named the bear? Without hesitation, she said, “Pop. for Parade of Playhouses.”
Receiving thank you’s was Ron Flanary of Glazer’s. Not only did Glazer’s provide the wine, Ron had been responsible for the gratis delivery of the playhouses.
Another group being congratulated were the builders and designers of the mini-mansions including AMX Corporation with Southwest Displays, Austin Commercial with Life of an Architect, Backyard Mansions, Bob Borson with Buford Hawthorne, Butscher Construction Co., LRO Residential, Erin Nicole Parisi of The ArtMongers, parmadesign, Texas A&M University College of Architecture and Tri-Tex Construction with Life of an Architect.
CASA’s new Executive Director/President Kathleen LaValle reported, “Our goal is to expand our services. We want to double the number of children served by 2016, and serve all abused/neglected children in our area by 2019.” At this time Dallas CASA has 700 volunteers, but they need more. They also have a $37M fundraising campaign underway with the additional goal of raising awareness of Dallas CASA.
Kathleen also explained that the Parade of Playhouses is a great opportunity to raise that awareness. It seems that when people buy a raffle ticket, they say, “What is Dallas CASA?”
This year they added Dallas CASA aprons for raffle-ticket sellers. Next year they’re looking forward to retaining a “text” service so people can vote for their favorite playhouse by text and donate at the same time.
Over to the side, Seth Parma displayed the true goal of CASA — a child loving and being loved thanks to a caring adult. In this case it was his dad, Kevin Parma, who had built one of the playhouses. Thanks to people like Kevin and his wife Sherry, children who are not as fortunate as Seth and his sister Lorelai have Dallas CASA in their lives.
With the weekend’s temperature hitting the three-digit mark, it’s a perfect time to check out the playhouses in the air-conditioned surroundings of NorthPark and/or to buy a raffle ticket ($5 each, or 5 for $20). The drawing is Sunday, August 17, at 4 p.m. in NorthPark’s NorthCourt (first floor entrance near AMC). According to Dallas CASA Chief Development Officer Cynthia Calabrese, 75% of the money raised from the Parade comes from the sale of the raffle tickets.