Tie-dye activity helps shape sunny outlook for Sunflower Day
Sharron Hanson of 10th Street Pickers and Nene Smestad of Mountain Lake Floral were hostesses for a pre-Sunflower Day tie-dye event this afternoon (Wednesday, August 24). Assisting were Sue Garloff, manager of Maynard’s Food Center and Victoria Hofmann.
Participants brought light-colored T-shirts to tie-dye – and all other supplies were provided for FREE!
The psychedelic shirts will be able to shape a sunny feelin’ groovy outlook for Sunflower Day, to be held on Monday, August 29. Features will be an evening polish sausage meal served up by the Mountain Lake Lions Club, topped by a banana split for dessert, free with a coupon from local participating businesses. The ice cream treat is part of Customer Appreciation Day, organized by the Mountain Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, trumpeting the idea that “It’s all about community!”
Following is a photo gallery of the step-by-step tie dye process:
SERVING AS TIE-dye “chemist” was Nene Smestad of Mountain Lake Floral, mixing up the colors in the squeeze bottles used to decorate the shirts – blue, yellow and orange.
FIRST STEP IS to dampen the shirt with a spray bottle of water, as demonstrated by Sue Garloff, manager of Maynard’s Foods Center.
NEXT, AS TAUGHT to Aayla Radtke, left, by Garloff, right, is place a hand in the center of the T-shirt and do the wrist “twist.”
THEN, THE REMAINDER of the shirt is gathered into a clump, shown by Miss Mountain Lake 2016 Danica Dick.
GARLOFF, LEFT, CONTINUES her tie-dye T-shirt tutorial by demonstrating to eager learners at left, back-to-front, Nadia Phommaphan, Phithsada Phounivong and Kylie Phommaphan, the way to section off the shirt with rubber bands.
THE TIME IS now right to squeeze the trio of colors onto the shirt fabric with a creative flair, just as Carter James is doing.
DANICA DICK COMPLETES this wonderful bursting-with-color shirt I will wear at Monday’s Sunflower Day. Kudos to her for her artistry. The Miss Mountain Lake is a woman of many talents (she was also the teen winner at the 2016 Cottonwood County Fair Talent Contest with her vocal solo, “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”)
AFTER SITTING IN a plastic bag for 8-12 hours, a rinse in warm water and wash with a minimum amount of detergent – voila! – a tie-dye T-shirt is unveiled.
ADDING COLOR – AND plenty of beak talk – to the tie-dye process came from the trio of birds from the birdland family of Curt and Gretchen Harder of Mountain Lake. They were out touring the city in their Birdmobile, with Curt doing the honors.
MEET BABBLES, AN umbrella cockatoo, that, when surprised, extends its large and striking head crest, which has a semicircular shape.
THEN THERE IS Buttercup (who has a vocabulary of 150 words), a hahns macaw.
LAST – BUT NOT at all least – is this colorful guy, Mick, a blue-and-gold macaw. His role in the bird family is to tell the other two “chatterboxes” to “Be quiet!”
