King and Queen Cleveland RMH
King and Queen Cleveland Ohio
Marla Hayes Local Director
8011 Risden Road
Vermilion, OH 44089
ph: 440-773-8226
fax: 440-967-6813
marla
EVENTS
November 19 2007
I shall never forget my first Queen Jalanya. She was leaving the Ronald McDonald House the day after I met her. She had been there for 3 months!
All the moms that had been there 2 to 3 months got a manicure when I went to visit and take a tour of the Cleveland Ronald McDonald House for the first time!
Monday Jan 7 2008
The Cleveland Ohio Chapter of "Queen for a Day" held it's first event on Monday Jan 7 at the Ronald McDonald House from 6:00 to 8:30.
Marla Hayes "Beauties of America" New Jersey's 40's 2007 and Ohio's 40's 2008 from Vermilion, Christa Cox from Parma representing "Great Clips" and Sharon Ritchie from Strongsville hosted this incredible and heartwarming event.
There were 4 boys and 7 girls from age 1 to 12 in attendance.
All of the children were treated to a hair styling service including a trim or cut, braids and colored hair gel , and a manicure with a hand and arm massage and yes! A couple of the boys wanted polish and gems also!
Next the children were invited to look into the "magic looking glass". The girls had eye shadow, blush and lipstick applied. The boys were amazed and thrilled with a "fake" shave and root beer or 7-up lip smacker's applied.
Next they got to have their choice of temporary tattoos. There were so many too choose from, some of the children had several!
Then the children got a tootsie-pop sucker out of a beautiful pink butterfly box.
The beautiful queens were wrapped in a real pink marabou boa and crowned with their choice of tiara. One of the little girls chose a crown! To the surprise of us all, given the choice of a cowboy hat , crown or pirate hat, all of the handsome boys chose a crown! So from now on-only Crowns for our Kings!
We addressed our Queens and Kings by their proper name of "King (boys name)" or "Queen (girls name)" They loved it!
Finally one at a time, the children were seated in a "Hand Shaped Chair Thrown" with Red Fingernails! We gathered around them and acclaimed them "Queen" or "King". We told them how special, brave and loved they are. They were so excited they could hardly wait until their picture popped out of the camera and we all watched and waited while it developed!
Any parent who wanted one, was invited to have a quick trim or cut after all the children were attended to.
As the director, I was looking at this as fun. But when I walked in the door I had the full impact and realization of just how much this means to the children and their parents. One of the little girls mother came to me and said "When my daughter woke up this morning the first thing she said was Mommy, Today I am a "Queen". She patiently waited all day! I got Goosebumps! I was so honored and proud to be a part of this organization. I was amazed at the grace, happiness and positive attitude of these beautiful young courageous, and confident children.
We are very much looking forward to our next event scheduled and themed for Valentines Day. February 14 2008. We will be hosting a catered dinner for the 37 families that night who call the Cleveland Ronald McDonald House from all over the world their temporary home!
Marla Hayes Director-Cleveland Ohio.
Valentines Day Feburary 14 2008
The Cleveland Ohio Chapter of Queen for a Day held an event to cherish on Valentines Day Feb 14 2008 at the Ronald McDonald House from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m..
We began our Valentines Day themed party with a catered dinner from Sterks catering in Vermilion. There were plenty of beautiful cupcakes provided by our volunteers and finished off with red jello and whipped cream.
Our evening began with "3 Kings" -not a little girl in sight! We treated the boys to a manicure, an arm massage and a "fake shave" The boys so much loved to look into the "magic mirror". One of the boys father almost had me talked into giving it to him, the boy loved the mirror so much! Next time! I will take an extra mirror - I aim to please and want to treat my Kings like gold! As a matter of fact as I am writing this, I am going to ship him a mirror tomorrow!
The boys loved the peppermint lip smackers and were quite proud of their crowns. One little boy went to his room and came back with a kings robe and paraded for us the rest of the night.
Then along came a little girl age 1 1/2. At first she was afraid to let me have her hand in fear of a needle. Then she realized after I showed her my temporary tattoo on my arm that it was OK and she was delighted to have a butterfly placed on her hand. A week later everytime I look at the tattoo on my arm I think of her and wonder if she still looks at hers and remembers the night.
We had a little boy who wanted nothing to do with us or a crown. He had recently underwent brain surgery. His parents assured us it would be OK to place a crown on his head . After 2 hours of patience by one of my volunteers and watching his mommy get a manicure he hopped up on the throne and wanted his medallion placed around his neck and his crown. I was so proud of my volunteer Carol who talked to him until he was laughing, trusting and smiling!
Towards the end of the evening, I saw a teenage girl come in. She told me she was very sick and not feeling well but her grandmother had convinced her to come down. She was a young lady who knew what she wanted- a manicure from me! She wanted flowers and rhinestones on her nails and we had a wonderful conversation.
She then asked me if I would give her mother a manicure. Her mother had never had one. I told her I would love to do that for her. Her mother interpreted through her daughter that she felt like royalty, and she was honored.
I just loved to observe how each volunteer- Heather a client of mine, Sharon a friend, my daughter Christa, my best friend Carol, Bev a co-worker and her son Max a college student and Carol a co-worker all brought something really special to share in this event.
We crowned 4 boys King and 4 girls Queen and gave 2 mothers a manicure and 1 grandmother a haircut.
Happy Valentines Day! Marla Hayes Director Queen for a Day Cleveland
"A Memorial Day" 2008
Cleveland Queen for a day hosted a pizza dinner on Memorial Day Monday May 26 2008 at the Ronald McDonald House. Even though it was a 3 day holiday weekend all 37 rooms in the house were full.
As I walked in I noticed a tiny girl with her father watching us carrying our pink trunks of goodies down the hall. I stopped to talk to her and invite her to come and get her nails painted, makeup applied and get her very own tiara. As she smiled and said "now" ? I tearfully turned to my friend and said "I can't do her. I can't handle this one.
I gained my composure and as I got the pizza, salads and dessert ready, and to my surprise and delight every time I turned around that sweet little girl would purse her lips and point to her nails as if to say I'm waiting! Of course she was going to be the first Queen of the Day! She was so excited to look in the mirror as I put her makeup on but she was not happy. She wanted more put on and darker colors so she could see it better. My spirits were so high watching her smile and nod her head approvingly as she smiled at herself in the mirror. She also wanted flowers and rhinestones on all 12 of her nails. She was a little angel. She sure taught me a lesson. She was not a bit shy or insecure.
That night we crowned 7 girls and 5 boys.
We love to go and take dinner for all the families staying there. They kept thanking us over and over.
What a wonderful place. We can't wait until our next event.
"Feb 1st 2009"
The Cleveland Ohio chapter of
Queen for a Day held our first event of the year on Sunday Feb 1st 2009 from 6-9 at the Ronald McDonald house.
As the weekend came near 4 of our volunteers had called off with cold/flu symptoms!
I did not worry as it always works out! There was myself , Sharon Ritchie, my daughter, and granddaughter. Now I have intended on eventually bringing my grandchildren, one at a time, but I was worried being so down on volunteers. My worries were over when my granddaughter came in dressed to the nines for the occasion and carrying a basket of toys and books she had brought to give away!
We always take dinner as part of our party. The house is always full with all 37 rooms filled with families and they ask when a group comes in at night to provide a meal. This time we had a pizza party. It was a big hit. I had plenty delivered and with 2 whole sheets left over. That made me happy as I have learned some parents are still at the hospital with children who are too sick to be in the house and are always relieved when they get back in at the end of the night to have nourishment. Also what further made me feel great was that as we were checking out 3 weary travelers who had been driving with their child 8 hours and had just walked in suitcases in hand, I was able to say there is fresh pizza in the kitchen and they were so grateful and headed right there. From now on -pizza it is!
The kids are always different. Sometimes they are shy and we approach them and sometimes they come right over and wait while we get set up! We have decided to always ask the parents if their children are allowed to have makeup, allowed to have nail polish and if they are allowed temporary tattoos. Here in Cleveland we have the world renowned Rainbows Babies and Children's Hospital, The Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospital. There are always children from ALL over the world and we want to make sure we break no customs.
We had so much fun. We crowned 8 Kings and 8 Queens that night.
We give the boys a "fake" shave, colored hair gel, stickers, lip balm, temporary tattoos, a medallion of courage and they get to pick a toy out of our blue treasure chest.
We apply makeup on the girls, paint and decorate their nails, give them stickers, lip balm, temporary tattoos, a queens bracelet, a pink feather boa, and they get to pick a toy out of our pink treasure box.
As always the instant pictures after the crowning is a big hit. The children just LOVE to have a picture of themselves and their next favorite thing is to admire themselves in the mirror. We always bring plenty of mirrors and it is a thrill to see how happy and excited they are.
We end each ceremony with giving the children a plastic crown box of their own to store their treasures in. This time we included a small hand held mirror and a comb in their box which was donated by one of our sick volunteers Heather Tharp. We also had soft beautiful angora hats to give to the girls who wanted one made by my friend Vicky Cogar.
I had a father approach me and say "can I have a tiara for my girl? I asked if she was in the hospital for we always make up goody boxes at every event for the children who are in the hospitals. (The rules are very strict here in Cleveland we are not allowed to visit hospital rooms) He said no she is upstairs. She is shy. I said oh bring her down and let us pamper her. He came back a few minutes later with his beautiful wife. I said "This is your girl?" She explained her son was very sick in the hospital. he calls her "the princess" so they thought it would cheer their son up for her to walk in with a tiara. I said" we will do better than that." I sat them both down and took pictures of mom with a tiara which I gave to her and dad with a kings crown. They said he will love the picture. Then I said oh wait dad, here is your punishment for "fibbing" to me and put a huge tiara on his head and took another picture of him. The mom said now my son will really love that. They were so grateful when I said "don't leave" and we put together the kings crown and filled a plastic box with treasures for their son. They were so grateful and said this will mean so much to our son.
That's all from Cleveland until our next event in 3 months.
King and Queen Cleveland Ohio
Marla Hayes Local Director
8011 Risden Road
Vermilion, OH 44089
ph: 440-773-8226
fax: 440-967-6813
marla
