FARMINGTON — Thirty-three Sandy River area Girl Scouts ages 4 to 63 wowed a large audience on Saturday afternoon at the second annual Trash Can Couture Fashion Show at the University of Maine.
And there was plenty of couture, or fashionable made-to-measure clothes, created in true fashionista style from trash bags of all colors, newspapers, duct tape, lace, balloons and feathers.
Contestants walked the runway to music and flashing colored lights provided by Jeff Bivens aka DJ Warlock, and modeled their outfits in front of judges Tammy Goldfrank, Longfellow Restaurant; Amy Alexcovich, DMD, Strong Dental Clinic; and Tammie Gould, administrative assistant/manager, United Economic Ministries in Salem.
“Wasn’t that great?” Megan Norster, the show’s emcee and volunteer mother from Strong, said afterward.
The show was sponsored by Kingfield Girl Scout Troop 54 as its community service project.
“It’s more than just playing in duct tape and trash bags,” Norster said. “We want to raise awareness and have a good time doing it, so these girls can grow up to be future leaders.”
The show began with a Tribute Walk by the Kingfield troop contestants, who solemnly walked on stage carrying flickering electric candles. Behind them on the big screen, a PowerPoint slide show of the names of Maine’s military residents killed in action in wars since 2004 slowly scrolled by.
Each girl holding a candle walked to the front of the stage, bent and placed it on the outer edge while girls holding large signs reading, “Hope,” “Love” and “Kindness,” stepped forward at center stage facing the audience.
“Our concept this year was, ‘What About Angels?’ and we wanted to make sure our girls know that our military sacrifices a lot for them,” Norster said.
“We want to make sure it doesn’t die with this generation of how honorable these men and women are, and we thought it was appropriate to honor their memory with something like this so people would understand.
“‘Yeah, we’re having a good time with trash bags,’ but at the end of the day, it is for a really good cause, and we need to support our troops and support our country and that’s really what it’s all about,” Norster said.
The show additionally benefits the United Methodist Economic Ministry in Salem, neighbors of the Sandy River area Girl Scouts and homeless people.
“What (our Girl Scouts) do is they earn money for ‘blessing bags,’ which are bags they fill with toiletries, snacks and small toys for homeless people in the area,” Norster said.
Prior to the show, the children and adults donned their costumes, and most stood nervously, waiting to parade down the catwalk and stand on the big X in front of the judges.
“Every costume had to have a trash bag base and you could use lace, duct tape or whatever else, but the dress itself had to be made with trash bags,” Norster said.
Last year’s debut event was open to children ages 4 to 12. This year, however, organizers opened it to the public and adults, one of whom was Austin Thorndike, the Strong Girl Scouts troop leader. He garnered lots of funny catcalls from the mostly female audience when he modeled a black trash-bag vest and was asked to return to the X for pictures.
Saturday’s event also featured a first.
“We had three generations of trash bag wearers this time,” Norster said. “We had little Irelynn Kangas, 4, and her mother, Holly Kangas, and Irelynn’s grandmother, Karen Kangas. We didn’t have that last year, because we didn’t have it open for adults.
“Last year, myself and the leaders wore trash bags, but we never extended it to the public. But we decided to open it up this year to have more fun. People had a really good time, because some grownups like to play, too.”
- Second annual Trash Can Couture Fashion Show finishers in the ages 12 and way up category were, runner-up, Karen Kangas, left, of North Anson, and winner, Amy Bell of Farmington. They are reacting on stage late Saturday afternoon to wild applause and hoots from the large crowd inside Lincoln Auditorium at the University of Maine at Farmington.
- Strong Girl Scout troop leader Austin Thorndike of Avon holds his daughter, Christina Thorndike, 5, after presenting her with a bouquet of flowers as she walked the catwalk on Saturday afternoon with 32 other Sandy River area Girl Scouts ages 4 to 63 during the second annual Trash Can Couture Fashion Show in Farmington. Austin Thorndike also modeled a trash-bag ensemble, much to the delight of women in the audience.
- During the finals of Saturday’s second annual Trash Can Couture Fashion Show in Farmington, Kingfield Girl Scout Troop 54 leader Madison Kangas of Strong adjusts the sash of ages 4 to 5 first-place winner, Irelynn Kangas, 4, of Strong while second-place finisher, Alexander Folsom, 5, of Wilton watches the crowd react.
- Trinity Bachelder, left, and Isabella Norster lead Kingfield Girl Scout Troop 54 contestants in Saturday’s second annual Trash Can Couture Fashion Show in Farmington during a commemorative walk to honor Maine’s military members who were killed in wars since 2004. The names of the servicemen scrolled by on the big screen behind the children.
- Sandy River area Girl Scouts Trash Can Couture Fashion Show contestant Willow Bachelder, 4, of Salem, hoists her trash bag gown while doing a spin move on the catwalk in front of the judges’ table on Saturday in Farmington.
- Trash Can Couture Fashion Show contestant Nadia Davis, left, of Strong, models her trashbag outfit on Saturday afternoon for judges Tammy Goldfrank, right, of Kingfield, Amy Alexcovich and Tammie Gould, both of Phillips.
- Not understanding the concept of flickering, battery-powered candles, 4-year-old Irelynn Kangas of Strong tries to blow out the ‘flame’ after winning a first-place trophy and sash for her evening gown trashbag ensemble on Saturday afternoon during the second annual Girl Scouts Trash Bag Couture Fashion Show in Farmington.
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