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2B LIFE/ 1E|t Ciartottt $et Thursday September 22, 2005 Big feet are no longer a barrier to classy women’s shoes Continued from page 1B doing a shoe store,” Richardson-Williams said. “Blit I would still be at the mercy of tlie manufacturers to make the styles.” Taceri is a designer line dedi cated exclusively to women who wear sizes 10-14 medi um. The shoes are crafted in Brazil and made of quality leathers and fine fabrics. They retail from $90 to $185 and have been available since April. Richardson-Williams gave up a law career on Wall Street working for Bank of America, to push the Taceri full time. And Richardson-WiUiams is selling more than shoes. She’s selling esteem in a box. ‘1 got an e-mail from a young ^1 who said she missed her prom and other events because she couldn’t find any shoes to wear,” she said. “And those are the people that I’m making shoes for” She was once in those same ugly shoes. She said that at one time she was embar rassed by her shoe size and would hide her feet so she wouldn’t get asked the dread ed question-what size shoe do you wear? Now, she proudly tells anyone that she’s a size 12. “I think that it’s a normal thing (for women to have larger feet). And society makes women feel abnor mal,” she said Sean Washington, owner of Monet Shoes, located at 440 E. McCoUou^ Drive in the University area, said carry ing Taceri was a no-brainer. “There is a shortage of places where women can go to get designer shoes in. a laiger size,” he said. Although his store usually carries shoes up to size 12, the Taceri fine will increase his customer base. At a trunk show held at the store, Washington said 25 pairs of shoes were sold in less the six hours. ‘You can look good and have a larger foot,” Washington said On the net: mvwJaceri jcom Residents of historic area tell their story Continued from page 1B Harris’ long-closed Lincoln Cafe served beer, bailaecue and chitterUng sandwiches. When she opjened the shop in 1960, police warned her the streets right behind it were so dangerous they were known as \^etnam. “I told them, ‘I’ll take my chances,”’ Harris said. Harris said she maintained order by calling every man who came in the door “Mister.” For 25 years, she ran the business by day and got assistance from her husband at night. She had worked for years in Cameron \lllage restaurants before running her own. “Everyone is a repository of history,” said Michael Taft, head of the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center. Taft said history books tend to include dates, facts, figures and information about the effects of past events. Oral histories offer perspective. what it was like for one woman or man to experience change, Taft said. The FoUdife Center is a repository for more than 3 million items, including about 100,000 recordings dating to 1890. For Charmaine Brown, 22, the oral history interviews sent the St. Aug’s senior into the community for the first time in her four years on cam pus. She was leery about ventur ing into a place that looks nothing like the suburban neighborhood where she grew up in Kings Mountain. Brown interviewed McGill and learned that independent women are not a 21st-c^tury innovation. “Really, Mrs. McGiU is something,” Brown said. “She’s smart, she’s strong, she did a lot on her own. I think that’s the way I want to be.” if I AVahoSany 'HOW FoslTSort ForwancJ Ruriwcsy CSroomi's Corner. ^/loo Cosrr»etfos Beowty PovlHlon. Prar-XeQlster N»r $S admlMlen at Coll 4^3-35^7 Miss, border town forgotten in Hurricane Katrina recovery lliE ASSOCIATED PRI SS PEARLINGTON, Miss. - It’s been 21 days since Katrina annihilated this tiny rural hamlet on the Louisiana bor der, but it might as well have been yesterday Homes are heaps of debris, shoved far fiom their founda tions. Trees, nail-studded boards and utility lines still litter the roads. The mud has long since turned to dust, but it’s deep and ready to levert to its former state with the first good rain. And people—maybe 600 of the town’s 1,700 souls—are still living in tents and under tarps. Folks here say Pearlington is an old and generally over looked town, a place where blacks live in one section and whites in another. It’s a place without a mayor or a town government —in other words, without an advocate. “This little town, we’ve always been the stepkids among the conmiunities in Hancock County,” says IVacy Bennett, 34, who’s living in a sort of tent city with her inmiediate and extended fam- Uy A generator allows her to get water from the well, but her 20-month-old son Tyler ambles aroimd barefoot in the dirt, his fair skin hot and red despite constant slathering of sunscreen and three cold baths a day “Nobody knows we’re here. Nobody knows we exist,” Bennett says. “But we’re used to it." For more than a week, Pearlington survived largely on its own. Then. 10 days after the storm. Jeff McVay and five other members of an emer gency response team from Walton Coimty, Fla. arrived. McVay, who’s been through many hiuricanes, was stunned by what he found -- a town that had nothing but a place to get water, ice and mil itary-issued meals. There was no Red Cross. There was no shelter. He called home and asked for sue more men. McVay took charge, and four workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency power-washed rooms in the Charies B Murphy Elementary School to create a shelter But the Red Cross rejected it. concerned about electrical outlets that had been below the water line. The second time, McVay says, it was lack of a dehumidifier that kept the shelter fix)m opening. “I asked the Red Cross three things: Do you want a shelter? Who’s in chaige? ... Is it more important to you to have a dehmuidifier inside a building with concrete walls and secu rity and portalets than for people to sleep under tents, under tarps and in vehicles?” Dissatisfied with the response, McVay says he escorted the Red Cross to the gate. “They’ve got their rules, and they can’t deviate fix)m them, but it’s life over limb,” McVay says. McVay asked another group —City Tbam of San Jose, Calif—to set up the shelter, and work began two hours later. It opened Friday night. Day 17 after Katrina. “Our favorite saying here is if you can’t ask for it and get it, you backdoor it,” McVay says. “We’ve backdoored everything we have here Sometimes, rules are made to be broken, and I don’t mind breaking them in the best interest of the public." A Red Cross volunteer who “spoke out of their area of expertise and experience” caused the problems that delayed opening the shelter, said Mary Ferguson, a region al Red Cross spokeswoman. The worker has been relieved and the Red Cross is now pro viding supplies to the facility While widely praised, the Red Cross also has been criti cized by Katrina survivors along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast for delays in distributing financial assistance and trou ble getting through on the agency’s toll-fi:ee number. “We receive over 25,000 phone calls an hour request ing financial assistance, and we are asking people to be patient just because of the sheer volumes of people call ing.” said Shari Crandall, a spokeswoman at Red Cross headquarters in Washington. The shelter can house at least 100 people, but McVay doesn’t expect a rush until the rain comes. Tbo many people are afi*aid to leave what’s left of their bdongings. That includes Eaii Bennett, cousin of IVacy, who is living in a boirowed RV parked near his green, tin-roofed home. A wall of filthy water shoved the house 20 feet fiom where it once stood, its guts now jum bled, soaked and broken He’s picked some of his marble col lection from the mud, but nearly everything else is gone. Bennett, his wife and four children saw a sherilTs deputy shortly after the storm. They weren’t offered help, but Bennett says he understands. “Everybody was just kind of Get The Lead Out! Of the houses in the United States built before 1978, 85% have lead hazard reduction needs. One in five children in the United States is at risk for lead poisoning. Its effects can indude brain damage, kidney disease, heart disease, stroke and deafo. LeadSafe Charlotte is leading the way in protecting children from the dangers of lead. As part of our commitment of creating safe, lead-free environmenfe for families, we provide a wide range of services, including: • Informatics and education on the hazards of lead exposure • Free lead inspections at your home • Free testing of children • Free dean up, painting, repair and rehabilitating your home or rental property. LeadSafe Charlotte offers all of ffiese services at no charge to families who qualify. LeadSafe Charlotte. Keeping our OURLOTTE. children lead safe. Please see MISSISSIPPI/3B ii Cardiovascular research saves lives “SWEEPSTAKES OFFtCyU. ENTRY FORM OlCf _ SM. Ojjttil plWM BWI biiftilanlUli. '«!* MMMnoUspgMadvIMrtlw save $2So uiHen you cHoose coase Home Finance. • Get a $2S0 rebate applied automabcaHy to your closing costs. • Mortgage products to fit your needs. • Free pre-approval for purchase or refinance.* • Ea^ to apply - visit any branch, calll -800-796-0696 or visit wynv.chase.com/pepsi CHASEO f For officiai rules, visRwww.pepsf.com. Continued from page 1B ing the lives of more than 100.000 annually,, according to the American Heart Association. “It’s a blessing that they are including me in the development of this research study I am very’ exdted,” said Banks. al CHASE O , , - - -« mL rmaou. H3UK OF P9» M ta Q»> Mr w B SaMnbOBdMMMtwtf*
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