Saturday, October 10, 2009

“A light in the window - Register-Herald” plus 4 more

“A light in the window - Register-Herald” plus 4 more

A light in the window - Register-Herald

Posted: 10 Oct 2009 08:00 PM PDT

Published: October 10, 2009 10:40 pm    print this story  

A light in the window

Purple bulbs will 'light the way' for victims of domestic violence

Bev Davis
Register-Herald Senior Editor

Purple candles will carry a silent message to increase awareness about domestic violence.

The West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence is sponsoring a statewide campaign in which residents and businesses are asked to display the lights throughout the month.

Agencies have purchased electric candles, each with a purple flame, symbolizing the color used in the observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

"There is no cost for the candles. We are asking businesses and individuals to get them and display them in their windows throughout the month," said Deanna O'Dell, a client advocate with the Beckley outreach office of the WRC.

She and other staff members have labeled the candles with information about the WRC and bearing the message, "Lighting the way to peace in our hearts, our homes and the world."

On Thursday those with candles are asked to allow them to burn all night in honor of survivors of domestic violence and in memory of anyone who has lost a life to domestic violence.

O'Dell said the observance is also designed to help victims and their families find out about resources available to them.

"Many people still think all we can provide is a temporary shelter for someone who has fled from an abuser," O"Dell said. "The fact is, we provide a whole range of service to help those victims find a way to get out of abusive situations and find a way to live in a safe environment."

Services involve counseling, education, advocacy and referral to agencies that provide a variety of services.

The Women's Resource Center has an outreach center in each of the four counties it serves — Raleigh, Fayette, Summers and Nicholas. Centers are located in Beckley, Fayetteville, Hinton and Summersville.

Educating people about domestic violence is a big part of the awareness campaign, O'Dell said.

"We try to help people understand that domestic violence can affect everyone. It's not limited to any social class or culture. It can happen to anyone," she said.

Neither is domestic violence limited to physical abuse.

"We are now seeing it's not as much physical but emotional and financial and mental abuse," O'Dell said.

About 5 percent of domestic abuse victims are elderly.

"Our main hope is that people who are living with abuse will find a way to contact us and get help," she said. "We also encourage people to report suspected abuse. It could help save someone's life."

On Oct. 22, the WRC will sponsor its annual Candlelight Vigil from 6 to 8 p.m. at the John W. Eye Conference Center on the campus of Mountain State University in Beckley. Survivors will speak during the event.

"At 8 p.m., we will all carry our lighted candles from the conference center to the bell tower, where there will be a balloon release. Each balloon will contain the name of a person who has died because of domestic violence in our state this year," O'Dell said.

Anyone who wants candles should call 304-255-2559 and request them.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com

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Maui mourns three young lives cut short by fatal car crash - Honolulu Advertiser

Posted: 10 Oct 2009 07:24 PM PDT

WAILUKU, Maui - Friends, educators and co-workers this week fondly remembered three young men who died from a single-car crash on Kahekili Highway on Sept. 30.

A funeral was held Friday at St. Anthony Church for 20-year-old Na'ilimakuwai'oleokekulamehame- haokaluna'iu'iuokeahua "Na'i" Kana; his 17-year-old brother, Kalamakuokana'auao "Tuku" Kana, both of Waihee; and their cousin, 20-year-old Tyson Latham of Wailuku.

Services for the three will continue today with visitation from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Keanae YMCA gym. Burial will follow at the St. Gabriel's Church Cemetery.

"I don't know what words to express our heartfelt sympathy to such a loving family," said Kapono'ai Molitau, co-kumu hula of Na Hanona Kulike 'O Pi'ilani, where the Kana brothers' younger sister was a student.

Molitau said the brothers sometimes picked up their sister from hula practice.

"They were very respectful kids," he said. "They would always make sure they would say aloha. If they're anything like their parents or anything like their sister, they're very respectful gentlemen and very loving.

"It's just too soon. They were just getting started in their adult life."

Latham, who was working at the county Aquatics Division as a summer lifeguard when he died, was also remembered as respectful, kindhearted and fun, said Fran Yamamoto, an official with the Aquatics Division.

She said co-workers said Latham had been talking about going to college.

"They just remember him to be just a great guy to work with," Yamamoto said.

Police have said speed is suspected as a factor in the crash, which occurred on the highway north of Wilipohaku Street in Waihee.

The 2004 Mazda sedan was being driven by Na'i Kana and was traveling north when he lost control of the car. The vehicle crossed the centerline before returning to the northbound lane and continuing off the highway, hitting an embankment, where it overturned and came to rest against a tree, police said.

A makeshift memorial with lei, ti leaves and candles has been placed at the crash site on Kahekili Highway.

Police said Na'i Kana died at the scene. Latham, the front-seat passenger, died at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at Maui Memorial Medical Center. Tuku Kana died Oct. 4, also at Maui Memorial.

Na'i Kana was a Kamehameha Schools graduate and was working at Akaku: Maui Community Television, where he edited the Maui Daily weekly news program. He had a young daughter.

His brother, Tuku, also known as "Kalamaku," was a senior in the Hawaiian language immersion program at King Kekaulike High School.

Susan Scofield, principal at King Kekaulike High School, said Kalamaku had many friends and built solid relationships with those at school.

"We are all very sad he didn't have that opportunity to fulfill his dreams," she said. "It's pretty sad when a young person goes so early."

The crash occurred before students left for their fall break, and Scofield said school counselors, behavioral health specialists, and Maui Police Department chaplains and crisis workers came to the campus the next morning to help students and provide counseling sessions. Counselors remained available to students through the end of the week, she said. Tuku Kana was still alive in critical condition at the time.

"At that point there was a lot of hope he would recover," she said.

Scofield said she appreciated the support extended to the school, especially by police.

"They are really angels to us," she said.

Both Na'i and Tuku Kana started their Hawaiian language immersion education at Punana Leo O Maui preschool.

Na'i continued in the Hawaiian immersion program until his freshman year of high school, when he was accepted into Kamehameha Schools Maui.

Henohea Kane, lead teacher for Kula Kaiapuni 'o Kekaulike, the Hawaiian language immersion program at King Kekaulike High School, knew both brothers from the time they were young children.

The program is like a family, she said. "To lose two Kaiapuni students whose mother was a Kaiapuni teacher for many, many years is really difficult," she said by e-mail.

"What I remember most about Na'i is his heart that showed in his personality and in his smile," Kane said. "Na'ilima was warm, sweet and very respectful. He was definitely someone who could light up a room when he walked in. Always smiling, always considerate of others, I always saw his mother in his 'ano (personality) every time I was around him, such a nurturing kanaka Hawai'i (Hawaiian man)."

She said Kalamaku, a student at Kula Kaiapuni 'o Kekaulike, was set to graduate in May.

"Kalamaku enjoyed life, he was a very talented singer, such a beautiful and soulful voice!" she said.

Hulali Canha, a classmate and friend of Na'i, remembered his involvement in many school activities at Kamehameha Schools Maui. He played volleyball as a freshman and sophomore, served as sophomore class representative, junior class president and senior class vice president.

Na'i enjoyed working in media, graphic design and video production and helped with the school newspaper and production team, Canha said.

"Everything he did, he did with a passion," she said. "He had so much fun doing what he did while making lifelong friends and memories along the way. His easygoing, fun-loving energy and his smile were contagious."

Friends also said the brothers had a passion for Hawaiian culture and enjoyed working in the loi, or taro patch.

Yamamoto said Latham had just started working as a summer lifeguard in September and worked at various pools on Maui.

"He left a wonderful impression on the public as well as his co-workers," she said.

At Sharon Young, designers and business vets combine talents on small ... - Dallas Morning News

Posted: 10 Oct 2009 08:14 PM PDT

Women's apparel designer Sharon Young was struggling and losing ground as a domestic manufacturer in 2006, two decades after starting her Dallas company.

Her line of designer sportswear still had a loyal customer base of 500 independent stores, mostly in small towns and neighborhoods of large cities from New England to California. "I couldn't design, run a business and learn the import business all at the same time," she said.

Around the same time, the new owners of Dallas-based Haggar Corp. cleaned house, setting loose its top women's division executives, president Ed Vierling and executive vice president Sam Klapholz, both industry stalwarts.

"Ed told me, 'Mark my word. We'll all be back together again,' " said designer John Bourgeois, who remained at Haggar at the time.

Today, inside an unassuming business park in northeast Dallas, these survivors of the city's once-booming industry are again growing a women's apparel company. Their custom-made clothing is a staple for independent retailers across the country wanting to carry merchandise not found in chain stores and malls.

What united them are the forces that dramatically altered the apparel industry over several decades, resulting in waves of retail consolidations, store closings and the movement of most U.S. jobs overseas to lower-cost countries to compete with a flood of foreign imports.

Vierling, 62, and Klapholz, 60, have worked together for more than 35 years, first at what became the largest women's apparel company in the Southwest, Dallas-based Jerell LLC, during the heydays of the 1970s and 1980s and later after it was sold to Haggar in 1999.

With no job to go to after leaving Haggar, Vierling and Klapholz started playing golf every afternoon. In the mornings, they would search for "opportunities," which meant "finding a talent," Vierling said. "We could run a business, but we're not designers."

They found Sharon Young.

Three months later, they acquired Los Angeles-based City Girl by Nancy Bolen, another brand with a strong following among independent stores but struggling on the business side.

In August 2008, with the economy well into the recession, they got the call: Haggar was selling Jerell.

Vierling and Klapholz share the same career war stories and remind each other of details the other missed. They become animated when they talk about the day they got to hire back 16 people from Haggar, including Bourgeois.

"When Haggar called, we didn't need time for due diligence," Vierling said. "We knew the product, the people. They were all ours."

"We asked each other whether we really wanted to do this, but we'd always said if we got the call, we'd go for it," Klapholz said.

In three weeks – an amazingly short time to buy a multimillion-dollar business – the deal was done.

Under the corporate umbrella of Sharon Young Inc., designers Young, Bolen and Bourgeois own a stake in their brands. Vierling and Klapholz are also owners and scout for ways to grow the business, including other turnaround prospects.

Sewing up growth

The company has 45 sales reps and 83 employees in offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Hong Kong. Sales have grown from $7 million to $35 million in three years, partly a result of a 20 percent increase in Jerell's sales. Warehouse space has tripled to 40,000 square feet.

For the second consecutive year, the company made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America and was a winner of the 2009 Dallas 100 Entrepreneur Awards, presented by the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at Southern Methodist University.

With Jerell, the company is more diversified, selling some of its growing list of labels to bigger department stores such as Dillard's, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Iowa-based Von Maur and Dallas-based Army and Air Force Exchange Service. It's also a supplier to Coldwater Creek.

That complements the company's core – 2,000 independent stores from coast to coast with loyal customers buying Sharon Young, City Girl, A la Carte and Multiples designs.

While at Jerell, Bourgeois designed the successful Stonebridge brand, which grew to a $40 million business for Dillard's. He also has been the Multiples designer for several years and has taken on two new lines, Vincente and Ali Miles, which is in Lord & Taylor.

He got his start in the business in the 1980s after graduating from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and going to work for Victor Costa, a Dallas highflier in the dress business at the time.

Young learned to sew in her parents' fabric store in Tyler and got into the business in 1986, when she sold her detachable collar creations at Dallas craft fairs and women customers wanted to know if she was also selling the denim jumper she was wearing.

At 54, Young is thriving again, exclusively serving mom-and-pop women's apparel stores that count on labels not sold in department stores for their livelihood.

Free 'to just design'

Vierling and Klapholz "have given me the freedom to just design," she said.

Her following is strong, Klapholz said, while hunting for a DVD containing TV commercials touting Sharon Young clothes that a Roanoke, Va., store recently sent him. Bourgeois just did a trunk show at Hill's Style Shoppe in Mineral Wells, and 35 women each left with an outfit.

"We really get to know our customers," he said.

Sharon Young's corporate culture is built around that personal touch.

"If I have a lady in the shop [who] wants to buy a jacket and shell and pants, but you need one piece in her size, that's a $400 sale," Vierling said. "The shop can't wait for a recording that says, 'Leave a message. We'll get back to you.' "

Francine Firestone, manager for 32 years of Isadora Altman, a shop in Richardson at Coit and Belt Line roads, said the company "pays attention to us. Getting reorders quickly is very important for a small business like us."

"We don't want to carry what you see in all the malls. That's why we love these small manufacturers," Firestone said.

The Store in Lake Highlands credits the company's unique clothing for helping to expand its customer base beyond its Northeast Dallas neighborhood, said Cheryl Calvin, who opened the store in 2002. "We have customers from Highland Park, Garland, all over."

Located in a shopping center at East Northwest Highway and Ferndale, The Store just expanded, nearly doubling its space to 6,000 square feet.

Multiples customers who wear large and extra-large sizes like the fit, she said. "We have an advantage of being able to buy what the customer tells us they want. Some of what I buy at market in a way is already presold."

All the lines are designed to fit women 30 and older, and retail prices range from $49 to $200.

The office at Sharon Young exudes a friendliness that grows out of the company's attention to customer service.

If they're expecting you, a little easel in the entry lounge reads, "Welcome (your name) to Sharon Young Inc."

VSU celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month - Valdosta Daily Times

Posted: 10 Oct 2009 08:14 PM PDT

Published October 10, 2009 11:15 pm -

VSU celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University's Department of Modern and Classical Languages will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by hosting a series of events in October.

According to www.hispanicheritagemonth.org, observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on Sept. 15 and ending on Oct. 15.

In addition to the events listed below, students in the Latin American Student Association at VSU are decorating a Chiva bus to be used at future events.

Chivas are old artisan buses used for public transport in Colombia and other Latin-American countries in rural areas.

They are now used for celebrations, tourist events, parades and other events because they project positive images and values.

VSU's Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Latin American Student Association, Sigma Delta Pi and Azalea International-Latin Group worked together to create a fully loaded schedule of events in celebration of Hispanic Heritage.

Visit www.valdosta

.edu/mcl/hhm09.shtml for a complete list of activities and a downloadable calendar. Visit http://chivastour.us/ for more information on chivas.

Monday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m., "Columbus' Legacy in Discovering the Americas" presented by Dr. Cristbal Serran-Pagan of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Bailey Science Center Auditorium. Discuss the historical context of Christopher Columbus prior to his discovery of the Americas and analyze the pros and cons of Columbus's legacy, especially the role of Christianity in the conversion of indigenous people, the subsequent exploitation of the land and its people, the culture of mestizaje, and the human trafficking of slaves.

Thursday, Oct. 22, 7-8:30 p.m., Our Lady of Guadalupe: Patroness of the Americas with Padre Angel of San Jos Catholic Church, University Center Theater.

Monday, Oct. 26, 6 p.m., Sigma Delta Pi Initiation for Spanish majors with Dr. Luis Bejarano.

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7-8:30 p.m., Study Abroad Memories and Future Opportunities with Dr. Ransom Gladwin, University Center Theater.

Wednesday, Oct. 28, Noon, Discussion: Cross Cultural Research with Dr. Luis Bejarano, West Hall Room 138.

Thursday, Oct. 29, 7:30-9 p.m., Latin Dancing with Dr. Ellen Friedrich, Las Banderas restaurant.

Sharon Young's designers, business vets combine talents on small ... - Dallas Morning News

Posted: 10 Oct 2009 07:39 PM PDT

Women's apparel designer Sharon Young was struggling and losing ground as a domestic manufacturer in 2006, two decades after starting her Dallas company.

Her line of designer sportswear still had a loyal customer base of 500 independent stores, mostly in small towns and neighborhoods of large cities from New England to California. "I couldn't design, run a business and learn the import business all at the same time," she said.

Around the same time, the new owners of Dallas-based Haggar Corp. cleaned house, setting loose its top women's division executives, president Ed Vierling and executive vice president Sam Klapholz, both industry stalwarts.

"Ed told me, 'Mark my word. We'll all be back together again,' " said designer John Bourgeois, who remained at Haggar at the time.

Today, inside an unassuming business park in northeast Dallas, these survivors of the city's once-booming industry are again growing a women's apparel company. Their custom-made clothing is a staple for independent retailers across the country wanting to carry merchandise not found in chain stores and malls.

What united them are the forces that dramatically altered the apparel industry over several decades, resulting in waves of retail consolidations, store closings and the movement of most U.S. jobs overseas to lower-cost countries to compete with a flood of foreign imports.

Vierling, 62, and Klapholz, 60, have worked together for more than 35 years, first at what became the largest women's apparel company in the Southwest, Dallas-based Jerell LLC, during the heydays of the 1970s and 1980s and later after it was sold to Haggar in 1999.

With no job to go to after leaving Haggar, Vierling and Klapholz started playing golf every afternoon. In the mornings, they would search for "opportunities," which meant "finding a talent," Vierling said. "We could run a business, but we're not designers."

They found Sharon Young.

Three months later, they acquired Los Angeles-based City Girl by Nancy Bolen, another brand with a strong following among independent stores but struggling on the business side.

In August 2008, with the economy well into the recession, they got the call: Haggar was selling Jerell.

Vierling and Klapholz share the same career war stories and remind each other of details the other missed. They become animated when they talk about the day they got to hire back 16 people from Haggar, including Bourgeois.

"When Haggar called, we didn't need time for due diligence," Vierling said. "We knew the product, the people. They were all ours."

"We asked each other whether we really wanted to do this, but we'd always said if we got the call, we'd go for it," Klapholz said.

In three weeks – an amazingly short time to buy a multimillion-dollar business – the deal was done.

Under the corporate umbrella of Sharon Young Inc., designers Young, Bolen and Bourgeois own a stake in their brands. Vierling and Klapholz are also owners and scout for ways to grow the business, including other turnaround prospects.

Sewing up growth

The company has 45 sales reps and 83 employees in offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, New York and Hong Kong. Sales have grown from $7 million to $35 million in three years, partly a result of a 20 percent increase in Jerell's sales. Warehouse space has tripled to 40,000 square feet.

For the second consecutive year, the company made the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America and was a winner of the 2009 Dallas 100 Entrepreneur Awards, presented by the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at Southern Methodist University.

With Jerell, the company is more diversified, selling some of its growing list of labels to bigger department stores such as Dillard's, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Iowa-based Von Maur and Dallas-based Army and Air Force Exchange Service. It's also a supplier to Coldwater Creek.

That complements the company's core – 2,000 independent stores from coast to coast with loyal customers buying Sharon Young, City Girl, A la Carte and Multiples designs.

While at Jerell, Bourgeois designed the successful Stonebridge brand, which grew to a $40 million business for Dillard's. He also has been the Multiples designer for several years and has taken on two new lines, Vincente and Ali Miles, which is in Lord & Taylor.

He got his start in the business in the 1980s after graduating from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology and going to work for Victor Costa, a Dallas highflier in the dress business at the time.

Young learned to sew in her parents' fabric store in Tyler and got into the business in 1986, when she sold her detachable-collar creations at Dallas craft fairs and women customers wanted to know if she was also selling the denim jumper she was wearing.

At 54, Young is thriving again, exclusively serving mom-and-pop women's apparel stores that count on labels not sold in department stores for their livelihood.

Free 'to just design'

Vierling and Klapholz "have given me the freedom to just design," she said.

Her following is strong, Klapholz said, while hunting for a DVD containing TV commercials touting Sharon Young clothes that a Roanoke, Va., store recently sent him. Bourgeois just did a trunk show at Hill's Style Shoppe in Mineral Wells, and 35 women each left with an outfit.

"We really get to know our customers," he said.

Sharon Young's corporate culture is built around that personal touch.

"If I have a lady in the shop [who] wants to buy a jacket and shell and pants, but you need one piece in her size, that's a $400 sale," Vierling said. "The shop can't wait for a recording that says, 'Leave a message. We'll get back to you.' "

Francine Firestone, manager for 32 years of Isadora Altman, a shop in Richardson at Coit and Belt Line roads, said the company "pays attention to us. Getting reorders quickly is very important for a small business like us."

"We don't want to carry what you see in all the malls. That's why we love these small manufacturers," Firestone said.

The Store in Lake Highlands credits the company's unique clothing for helping to expand its customer base beyond its Northeast Dallas neighborhood, said Cheryl Calvin, who opened the store in 2002. "We have customers from Highland Park, Garland, all over."

Located in a shopping center at East Northwest Highway and Ferndale, The Store just expanded, nearly doubling its space to 6,000 square feet.

Multiples customers who wear large and extra-large sizes like the fit, she said. "We have an advantage of being able to buy what the customer tells us they want. Some of what I buy at market in a way is already presold."

All the lines are designed to fit women 30 and older, and retail prices range from $49 to $200.

The office at Sharon Young exudes a friendliness that grows out of the company's attention to customer service.

If they're expecting you, a little easel in the entry lounge reads, "Welcome (your name) to Sharon Young Inc."

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