PARIS – A lifetime love of costume characters has translated into a new costume rental business for Shirley Parsons of Paris.

Four years after starting G & P Olde Time Photos with photographer and friend Nancy Gravier, Parsons has branched out with Once Upon A Time, a costume rental and theme party business at 36 Hathaway Road.

The move made sense, Parsons said. People who knew of her penchant for dressing people in period costumes to have their picture taken often asked her if the costumes were available to rent. She and Gravier became known, in part, by working at the museum at the Fryeburg Fair for the past four years.

When calls for costume rentals became more frequent, she decided to start her own business, not only for Halloween, but also for theme parties, pageants and parades.

It’s the kind of business she might have wished for as a child at Halloween, she said.

“My mother made most of my costumes because the characters I wanted to be for Halloween were not available for sale in any of the local department stores,” Parsons said. “My fondest memory was the Mighty Mouse costume my mother made for me in the second grade.”

Parsons was active in her drama club at high school and later performed for many years until she got married in 1989 and started raising a family.

But her need to create continued. She hosted theme parties at her Paris home, including a “Neon Party” one summer when all the bright fluorescent colors were in fashion.

“It was easy,” Parsons said. “Everyone had something fluorescent in their closet at the time.”

She offered prizes as an incentive for her guests to dress up, “and dress up they did,” she said.

Parsons’ new business also offers costume characters for hire. She said she is willing to dress up and go to a function, office, hospital or home for “just about any occasion.” She also offers planning and costumed characters for children’s birthday parties.

With Gravier joining her, the two businesses will be moving by next summer into a new facility being built on Hathaway Road.

For more information, people can call Parsons at 743-7320.

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