Article by Howard Arceneaux from The Advocate
The River Bend Chapter hosted the second annual Recycled Fashion Show that was themed “A Night at the Movies” and taught students the importance of recycling.
ST. FRANCISVILLE, LOUISIANA — Students from West Feliciana Parish schools celebrated the iconic fashion of Hollywood with a twist: All of the materials used to create the costumes were made from recycled materials.
Characters from movies such as Frozen, Peter Pan, Batman, The Wizard of Oz, 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella, Legally Blonde, Gone With the Wind, and even television shows like Wheel of Fortune, came to life as part of “A Recycled Night at the Movies,” presented by Entergy’s River Bend Station on Nov. 18 at the West Feliciana High School auditorium.
The event was organized and coordinated by Natalie Wood, vice president coordinator for River Bend.
“We wanted to do more to get involved with the local community, and we came up with the idea for the recycled fashion show,” said Wood, whose daughter, Lillian, dressed as Ariel from The Little Mermaid and son, Wyat, dressed as a knight. “We want to teach them about the different ways we produce electricity, and nuclear power is one way we produce safe, renewable energy, and that recycling is a way to take waste and turn it into useful materials.”
There were more than 50 entries in the fashion show with about 75 kids participating. They competed in five categories: pre-K and first grade, second through fifth grades, middle school, high school, families and adult. Winners received trophies made from recycled materials and gift cards. The grand prize winners, Summer Knight and Sydney Corbin, who dressed as a box of popcorn and a drink, won a $100 gift certificate.
“Natalie came to us and said she wanted to work with teachers and develop a recycled fashion show that would be open to kids to be creative and to learn about the importance of recycling and protecting our planet,” Superintendent of Schools Hollis Milton said.
The students worked with art teachers from Lower Bains, Bains Elementary and West Feliciana Middle School to design and create their costumes. The outfits were made with all types of materials including cardboard, plastic bags, garbage bags, chicken feed sacks, aluminum, plastics, cartons, newspaper and mixed papers (magazines and junk mail). They were judged on the use of recyclable materials, creativity, originality, craftsmanship and use of theme in design.
“We made it part of their classes, and they just ran with it,” said middle school art teacher, Rae Lynn Thomas, who dressed as Mary Poppins and served as master of ceremonies.
Thomas kept the mood light and fun for the students, teachers, parents and community members who filled the auditorium.
