By Starla Pointer, courtesy of The News-Register
A dozen princesses helped Madison Wright celebrate her fourth birthday Saturday at Scotty’s Playhouse, the indoor play structure established by the See Ya Later Foundation.
The event was a special gift to Madison from her sister, Isabelle, 5, as well as her parents, Cassie and Derek Wright, and the See Ya Later Foundation’s Seeds of Hope program, which helps families going through serious illnesses.
Isabelle is being treated for neurofibromatosis tumors. She gets a lot of attention from doctors and nurses, as well as her family, and she didn’t want her little sister — or their brother, Phoenix, 1 — to feel left out, family friend Mykala Staebler said.
“Kids see their sibling go off to the doctor and come home, a lot of times with gifts. That can be hard,” said Staebler, whose daughter Maisie, 3, is recovering from cancer. “Parents find it hard to juggle everything, so when they can take a moment for their other children, they want to go big.”
Seeds of Hope supports that concept with special events, such as the birthday party at Scotty’s Playhouse.
When Staebler heard about the upcoming birthday, she contacted her friend Gina Regalado, who coaches the Linfield University dance team.
Dancers had dressed up as princesses for Maisie’s birthday party. Would they do that again?
Regalado said her students were eager to don the princess costumes and help Madison, Isabelle, Maisie and other friends celebrate the 4-year-old’s birthday.
The children’s faces lit up when they saw the princesses, who arrived with bags of goodies from which the youngsters could choose. “They loved it,” Staebler said.
They also loved climbing and playing tag with the princesses on the climbing structure at Scotty’s Playhouse.
The playhouse is named in honor of Scotty Banke, who inspired the people around him during his life. He died of cancer in 2001 at age 12.
His parents, Bob and Carmen Banke, and friends established the foundation in his honor, naming it for the way he often bid farewell: “See ya later!”
