|
- |
OSCAR ceremony
"I said that in many ways, they have more power than the president," said 10-year-old Mazzen Shalaby. "People care about them and notice what they do."
Which is why Shalaby's fourth-grade teacher, Leslie Lausten, and several members of Lausten's extended family were in Hollywood last weekend connecting with Oscar-going celebrities.
Lausten's sister and brother-in-law--Ed and Kathy Lawrence--own a Richmond business called Calypso Studios.
The company has created and is selling an environmentally friendly line of designer totes they think can be an attractive, convenient and affordable alternative to the plastic and paper bags that litter the landscape.
The S.H.O.P totes (Start Helping Our Planet) are a line of reusable totes that retail for under $30 and fold into a small, easy-to-carry case.
After showing the totes at a gift-industry trade show in Los Angeles recently, the couple was asked by "Secret Room Events," a celebrity-gifting company, to take part in the Oscar festivities.
The Lawrences said yes, and soon enough the trip became a family affair, with Lausten and the women's parents, Deal and Jane Flowers of Richmond, taking part.
All of them worked in a vendors' lounge on Friday and Saturday at a posh Beverly Hills hotel on Oscar weekend, giving away totes and pieces from the company's jewelry line to folks including "Breakfast Club" star Judd Nelson, former Chicago Bear Willie Gault, as well as film and TV personality Tila Tequila. Among some 200 other celebrities were members of the show "Orange County Housewives," the cast
Aside from representing the company, Lausten, who has taught at Hartwood Elementary for 19 years, had another mission.
"I found a way to get my students involved," she said.
The class studied environmental topics all year, even creating a bird sanctuary as a class project. Before the trip, Lausten said she and the class talked about what they wanted to say about the environment to the trend-setting celebrities she would have access to.
"They put their feelings into letters I took with me," she said. "They were pretty strongly worded, starting out 'Dear celebrity' and telling them they'd better do their part."
At school Tuesday, 9-year-olds Annie Fitzgerald and Allison Morris listed ideas students included in their letters such as recycling materials, conserving resources and caring for animals.
"When the celebrities would come to our booth, especially the ones my kids would know, I'd show them the letters and a picture
She was gratified and a bit surprised to see how many of them took an interest. She said many signed the back of the class picture and even added notes of encouragement, as well as posing for pictures.
One particularly positive celeb was Yvette Nicole Brown, a regular on the kid-oriented TV show "Drake & Josh" and a star of the recent Disney film "Hotel for Dogs."
Both the Lawrences and the Flowers said they were struck by how nice the stars were and were excited about the opportunity to put the S.H.O.P. totes in the hands of so many high-profile celebrities, something they hope will translate into sales across the country.
They all agreed that it was Lausten who had the most high-profile moment of the trip.
On a walk to a nearby drugstore, she stepped off a curb and was almost run down by a driver who changed lanes abruptly.
Hopping back onto the curb, she nearly collided with an athletic-looking fellow who checked to see that she was OK and made sure she made it back to the hotel.
That same fellow came through the company's booth the next day.
"That's Terrell Owens!" Ed Lawrence pointed out
"He was so nice when I saw him at the booth and thanked him again for helping me," she said. "He talked to us for a while and was very nice, posing for a picture with me. The class loved it."
calypsostudiosinc.comRob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com
