ittarkham tttatttuj abc0mxt10mng systems ls1wesngtastet7 4711748 craftsmanship tribune community doug kackert 6405339 ja stouftville aluminum siding windows speoaizing tn replacement doore and windows serving whitchurchstouffville uxbridge and area a metroland community newspaper wednesday april 6 198 gigi fisher turns rags into riches by bruce stapley in the 1950s gigi fisher de signed costumes for expensive theatre productions in europe working with unlimited budgets that allowed her to use the finest materials money could buy since 1980 the uxbridge area resident has applied her many ta lents towards turning rags into costume riches and tomboys into lords and ladies the mother of three is the driv ing force behind the costume com mittee of the annual goodwood public school spring theatre pro duction and even though its been 6 years since her children attended the school shes just as dedicated to the cause as she ever was my daughter came home one day back in 1980 and said shed won the main part in a production the school was to put on she re calls i didnt even know they had an annual show then i sent a note to the school offering my help since that day the german born lady with the creative flair has been sketching planning cut ting sewing and shopping on a shoestring budget that can only make her sigh thinking about the good old days in professional theatre but she has proven herself most adaptable in fact she has actual ly come to appreciate the chal lenge presented by making period costumes out of castoffs and whatever materials she can scrounge after ive drawn up my whole scheme for the show i dictate a newsletter that goes out to all the parents saying what is heeded in the way of materials colours etc then we comprom ise a lot depending on what is available what is available usually con sists of some unlikely items we take anything she insists old curtains bedspreads bath robes sheets we then go out and buy what we cant get along with zip pers sequins and the like such is her attention to detail her costumes end up being both expertly finished and authentical ly designed the kids are some times a little uncomfortable at first especially the boys who are wearing white stockings and leotards but they always come to appreciate how they really dres sed in those times shows chosen invariably give gigi the opportunity to put her years of studying clothing trends through the centuries to work her thorough approach sees her spending hours in the library re searching exact styles and ac cents her biggest challenge to date we did robin hood in 1983 it was so different from anything id ever done the over 400 costumes she has made are all kept after the show and are stored at the school some have been lent to other schools for their productions typical of attention to detail is her queen of hearts costume used in the alice in wonderland pro duction we used a white beds pread fabric from a 50s cocktail dress christmas ribbon hearts from a babys blanket sleeper and old curtains other shows done have included davy crockett and cinderella this years selection is sleeping beauty and it is scheduled for april 14 and 15 at the school gigi says theres always a reaction from certain people in the audience when they recognize something that once belonged to them thats been transformed into an authentic period costume in one show a princess was going down the aisle when a pa rent said that showei curtain never looked so good another time a man said to his wife that looks like my sweater his wife replied id hoped you wouldnt notice you havent worn it for five years gigi insists each costume be tailored for the child it is being made for i talk to each child first to make sure the costume fits his or her style or personal ity ill try to coach them a little but by and large i make the cos tume to suit their overall makeup gigi fisher of uxbridge admires the costumes she created for kelly prentice centre and joelle segal both students at goodwood public school kelly plays merriweather and joelle plays the title role in the schools production of sleeping beauty mrs fisher has been making costumes for school theatre productions for eight years the mother of three began making them when her children participated in school plays and has continued by popular demand at one time she designed costumes for extravagant european theatre productions where the sky was the budget limit now shes adept at turning odds and ends into impressive costumes for local performers items used include old curtains bedspreads and fabric ends jim thomas she claims to give between 500- 600 hours of her time for each pro duction i do every single pat tern myself and all the shopping then i get a makeup crew together a hair dressing crew and i organize one for the night of the production to help out and she insists it is a genuine labour of love theres nothing more satisfying than working with the kids she says and they just love it does she have any desire to re turn to her profession on a full time commercial basis i might she suggests but id have to leave the area and move to some place like stratford in the meantime she has her hands full with 4550 amateurs a year not to mention the time she spends sprucing up the old school house in roseville she and her husband live in and shes ever hopeful her efforts with the kids might lead to bigger and better things for her little stars who knows she smiles maybe one day itll be one of those kids from goodwood going to hollywood or stratford figure skating carnival director julie glides to deadline by bruce stapley stouffville julie fag- giani is becoming a master of pre parations this month as she pre pares for two important events the stouffville figure skating club carnival and her wedding right now the stouffville resi dent can be forgiven for thinking shes married to the ice show which takes place april 15 and 16 its a timeconsuming venture for those in charge 1 tribute to disney weve been rehearsing five- nightsaweek since march 12 she says if i added up the hours ive put in so far it would come to about two weeks of steady work julia is one of the clubs eight coaches who have dedicated themselves to putting together a topflight program with 175 parti- cipants this years production will fea ture a firsthalf tribute to walt disney entitled mickeys spring barbecue the second half a walk down hollywood boule vard will pay homage to stars through the decades from char lie chaplin to modern screen idols julia admits the responsibility of coming up with a carnival theme posed a challenge gary beacom international skating star when asked to do the show id drive along in my car wondering what to do something with music that could be enjoyed by everyone she eventually chose the disney theme because of her lifelong appreciation of the man and his characters i always wanted to do a disney tribute she admits the little kids love it as well as directing the entire show julia will lead her own group of skaters through a rollick ing bugle boy routine accompa nied by the andrews sisters rendition of the boogy woogy bugle boy of company b shes also heading up the senior open ing number pro skaters appearing the carnivals guest stars are gary beacom and gia guddat whove toured with thetorval and dean ice show they will skate together and solo but the highlight of the show in julias opinion will be the pre schoolers coached by the clubs jean barclay the youngsters are sure to capture the hearts of everyone with their 101 dalma- tions routine everyone loves them they will close out the prog rams first half the second half performed by the seniors will include tributes to marilyn monroe and judy gar land parents invaluable julia says the show couldnt go on if it werent for the work of pa- rent volunteers theyre in volved with the props the cos tumes and the overall organiza tion she says theyve been great the carnivals producer is julias mother agnes faggiani the master of ceremonies is steve upton there is one show on friday april 15 at 8 pm and two performances saturday april 16 at 2 pm and 8 pm tickets arc available at the re creation centre and movies plus theyre also available by calling gayc lehman at 6401304 admission is 5 for adults 3 for children and seniors gia guddat above is shown skating in a solo performance the markham native will make a guest appearance in stouftvillcs figure skating club carnival she has toured with the british figure skating champions torvill and dean and performed at the grammy awards party in new york citylast month peter arnott the latest addition to the whitchurch stouffville parks and recreation staff has plunged head first into his new job the recreation programmer helps to plan the activities made available to local residents he has already added a new one for the summer season youth ball hockey jim thomas whitchurchstouffville gains recreation expert stouffville whitchurchstouffville has a new recrea tion programmer hes peter arnott a native of oakville now living in oshawa mr arnott 27 is a graduate of oakville trafalgar high school and holds an honors degree in outdoor recreation from lskehcad university thunder bay he started his new position march 7 and works out of an office at the rcc centre mr arnott plans to continue all the present recreation programs and add to these in the months ahead a youth ball hockey league is his first new idea its already included in the 1988 springsummer recreation brochure and will operate from june 1 through aug 24 the registration fee is 40 teen dances arc also planned likely at latcham hall mr arnott will work closely with marlanc mckecwcthcral the towns recreation director his work will see him plan activities ranging from tennis to aquatics camping and canoeing are two personal favorites mr arnott says whitchurchstouffville has a strong recreation base from which to work he says hes looking forward to a re warding association with the town in general and recreation in particular