Lampeter-Strasburg townlively.com
FEBRUARY 10, 2021
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LVII • NO 41
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS IN THIS ISSUE!
Bring On The Bling! he creator of the over-the-top gowns on TLC’s “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding” will be the guest speaker at the next monthly meeting of the Lancaster Area Sewing Network (LASN). Couture designer Sondra Celli will join the group via Zoom at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 22. Members of the public are invited to attend and may email lancastersews@gmail.com for details. Celli started out in children’s wear after graduating from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and working in fashion houses around the globe. The clothing was heavily embellished with ribbons, beads, and miniature toys such as racecars, checkers, and tiny dolls and was sold at Saks, Neiman Marcus, and other department stores across the country. “It was a colorful, textural, whimsical, and three-dimensional line,” Celli said. “My collection stood out,
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and that’s how the Gypsies found me. They tracked me down, and I’ve been designing for them ever since, and that was over 40 years ago.” Celli opened the Sondra Celli Company in Waltham, Mass., in 1981 and specialized in what she calls “uncommon crystal couture.” She does all the patternwork herself and cuts all the pieces for every design. Staff members sew the garments together before other workers, called “blingettes,” add the surface embellishments. “The stones are put on one-byone by hand,” Celli explained. “It’s a labor-intensive job, but the results are outstanding, eyecatching designs. As I like to say, ‘It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling.’” Celli published a book with Atglen-based Schiffer Publishing in 2019. “BLING! The Uncommon Crystal Couture World of Sondra Celli” includes insight into her career as well as directions for several embellishment projects. See Bling! pg 5
New Choices Returns To YWCA Lancaster BY DAYNA M. REIDENOUER
BY DAYNA M. REIDENOUER
I interviewed for a part-time job as a proofreader a few hours before my wedding rehearsal on Dec. 28, 2006. When I received the offer to join Engle Printing & Publishing Co., Inc. as a full-time feature writer and photographer, I was buying last-minute decorating supplies in a discount store. I was so excited to have my first salaried professional job that I forgot to introduce the members of the bridal party to each other. One of my sisters later asked me who the person was who escorted her down the aisle. See Farewell pg 5
New Choices executive director, Deborah St. Onge
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A Newspaper Lady’s Farewell
Couture designer Sondra Celli works in her studio in Waltham, Mass.
A program dedicated to helping individuals in transition has made its own move. The New Choices Career Development Program, most recently sponsored by the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center (LCCTC), will return to its founding organization, the YWCA Lancaster. New Choices was created in 1985 to help individuals develop essential job-seeking and work skills, and classes were held at the YWCA, 110 N. Lime St., Lancaster, for many years. Later, the program’s headquarters was moved to the PA CareerLink of Lancaster County
offices. Being back at the YWCA will help new and existing clients access services. “The program fits a particular niche within the YWCA’s program offerings to support economic independence and opportunity. We have lots of parents who use our child care services who are working but are low income and are looking for an opportunity and support to move forward in a career,” said YWCA Lancaster CEO Stacie Blake. “We expect New Choices will have many inquiries from folks getting back on their feet as well as from employers who want to fill critical roles quickly.”
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Free Eye Exams, Glasses Available . . . . . . .2 Zimmerman To Speak In Virtual Program . . . . . . .3 Market Plans Shopping Event . . . . . . . .3 Business Directory . . . . . .7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 House Of Worship . . . . . .12 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . .13
See New Choices pg 7
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