Alumnus operating unique shop
to feature 'yesterday's fashions'
Beth Cowan
appointed
to Council
Governor James B. Hunt has
named Beth Cowan, a freshman
from Ahoskie majoring in Printing
Technology, to the North Carolina
Parks and Recreation Council. She
will fill one of two seats created by
the 1982 General Assembly.
Miss Cowan is a graduate of Ber
tie Senior High School, where she
was involved in student govern
ment affairs and the Vocational In
dustrial Clubs of America. At
Chowan, she has been instrumen
tal in the establishment of the first
VICA club on the post-secondary
level.
The 15-member council, on
which Miss Cowan will serve, ad
vises the Secretary of Natural
Resources and Community
Development on the promotion,
development and administration of
the state’s recreation and parks
system.
She is one of the first youth
members to serve on the council.
Her term of office will expire on
June 30,1983.
Cafeteria staff
completes course
in food handling
The staff of Thomas Cafeteria
recently completed a 12-hour Food
Handlers Certification course of
fered by the Hertford-Gates Coun
ty Health Departments and
Roanoke-Chowan Technical Col
lege.
The instructor for the course was
Mrs. Katie Heath, and assisted by
Matt Parker, environmental
health coordinator for the Health
Department.
The three-week course was at
tended by all cafeteria workers in
cluding manager Ronald L.
Thompson, and assistant manager
Larry Lassiter.
After completing the course, the
cafeteria personnel received cer
tificated and arm patches for their
uniforms. In addition to hearing
lectures, the workers viewed films
showing the proper way to handle
food. During the final session, they
completed a test as a review of the
course.
Thompson said he was pleased
with the enthusiastic response of
his workers for the course.
Among those receiving cer
tificates were Timothy Thompson,
Olivia C. Coopper, Broklyn Manns,
Geraldine Branch, Phyllis
Newsome, Gertie Moore, Pauline
Deloatch, Josie Britt, Gladys
Vaughan and Priscilla Branch.
Also Earlene Vaughan, Earlene
Williams, Ida Washington, Essie
Manley, Margie Stephenson,
Marion Newsome, Millicent
Copeland, Victoria Jenkins, Inell
Jones, Julia Boon, Josie Williams,
Mrs. Linda Thompson, Manager
Ronald Thompson, and Assistant
Manager Larry Lassiter.
Ms. Donna Freeland
Class of 1967
By VINTmSON
Donna Freeland, a 1966-67
graphic arts major, is the pro
prietress of “Donna’s Folly,” a
Hillsborough, N. C., shop featuring
“fashions from a century past.”
The shop, located in a renovated
caboose in the Daniel Boone
Village, opened June 27, 1982, and
has “a little bit of everything”
from lace collars to Saks Fifth
Avenue ensembles.
The fashions, all hand-selected
by Ms. Freeland, date from the
1850s to the 1950s. Her collection, a
large part of which came from the
Charlotte Mint Museum, is well-
preserved and varied. Most of the
clothes are women’s fashions,
although she is steadily and
carefully building a collection of
men's wear.
“Blouses are probably the most
popular items,” Ms. Freeland
notes, although children’s clothes
and nightgowns also sell well. Han
dkerchiefs are always popular,
because, as she continued, “a lot of
girls carry them on their wedding
day for something old.” Her prize
garment is a late 1800 beaded cape.
Customers Varied
Ms. Feeland sells and rents the
fashions to people attending
costume and tum-of-the-century
parites. Owners of restored homes
also use her selections to wear and
for display. Play directors often
turn to her for costuming as do in
dividuals attending garden par
ties, weddings, and other
festivites.
Ms. Freeland, whose father
developed the Daniel Boone
Village, is also manager of the Big
Barn Convention Center, located in
the Village. “Sixteen years ago,”
she explains, “there was only the
motel and cafeteria.” Today, the
Village is a bustling outdoor mall,
even offering an “Antique Music
and Wheels” museum.
Before opening “Donna’s Folly,”
Ms. Freeland, whose favorite
decade is the twenties, spent
several months researching dif
ferent fashion motifs from 1850 to
1950. Details, such as knowing
when zippers were first used in
clothes, became important in mat
ching the fashions with ap
propriate dates.
Her interest in antique fashions
dates to when at the age of 10 she
began going with her father every
summer to antique automobile
shows. People who attended the
shows usually dressed in the styles
which were popular when their
cars were popular. Her interest in
y
antique clothing never waned. The j'
selling experience she gained
while serving five years as the ,
advertising manager with The r
News of Orange County helped Ms.
Freeland realize her dream of f
opening an antique fashion shop in ■'
her hometown. f
“Alot of people thought this was J
crazy. ‘Who is going to buy these ^
clothes from you?’ I had a few ’
doubts myself.”
Business has been very en- i
couraging, however, and the good ;
word is spreading about “Donna’s
Folly,” an unusual name for an
unusual shop.
“When I was little, I often heard
my mom kidding my dad about his
follies. I wasn’t sure what a folly
was, but I knew that I wanted to
grow up and have one.” When it
came time to name the shop, “Don
na’s Folly” seemed a natural.
Polly Cook,'54, now
living in Franklin
Polly Condrey Cook, Class of
1954, now lives in Franklin, Va. She
is married to Johnny F. Cook, Jr.,
and they have three daughters. She
graduated from Women’s College
in Greensboro and has been a
school teacher.
NOMINATION FOR CHOWAN COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION'S
Distinguished Alumni Award
-Return to Chowan College Alumni Association, Murfreesboro, North Carolina 27855-
Nominee
Address
Career Information
Civic, Social and Religious Involvement
Additional Information (Aw/ards, Recognitions, Publications)
Chowan College Degree and Year.
Other Degrees, Study
Submitted by.
Address
.Date.
Page 8—The Chowanian, December, 1982
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