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Show Thursday May 22, 2008 AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN Page 5 sticker WHO'S'WHO AND WHAT'S HAPPENING Alterations by Helen serves north coun rii M Cathy Ajlred NORTH.COUNTY STAFF ) Helen Alexanderson's shop specializes in white white blessing gowns and outfits, ring pillows, lace parasols, dress collars, bridal veils, temple bags,, and of course, wedding dresses. Alexanderson also does, as the name of her store "Alterations "Altera-tions by Helen" would indicate, alterations. Whether it's clothing cloth-ing and zipper repair, taking out an inch to make a pair of pants fit, or giving a wedding wed-ding dress a bit more bodice, she completes her work for patrons often the same day or within 24 hours. Open Monday through Friday, Fri-day, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sat-urday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Alterations Altera-tions by Helen offers professional profes-sional work and speedy results and is located on 62 W. Main St. in American Fork serving the north Utah County area. With wispy brown bangs and a shy smile, Alexanderson looks at home behind one of her seven sewing machines. On May 9 during the interview, inter-view, she was altering seven pairs of pants for a patron who had come by at 5 the night before be-fore and was told to pick them up by 2 p.m. the next day. An Hungarian native, she speaks with a soft accent, her eyes sparkle as she speaks. She attended an Hungarian sewing school as a child and traveled to the United States in 1968 when she was 17. She was hired by Christian Dior in New York as a seamstress. "That was so nice, I was so young and they hired me right away," Alexanderson said. "You have to be able to do a really re-ally good job for them so that was exciting," She liked being able to work on Park Avenue and said that was nice too. Her husband George Alexanderson knew Bona Belnap as a family friend mm, , ? ; IrpV'l- 'Li in . 1 i ' L, - : i 'V. J CATHY ALLREDNorth County Helen Alexanderson does alterations as well as design LDS clothing and gifts. Her "Alterations by Helen" on American Fork's Main Street opened in April. from his childhood. She and her husband, Parley Belnap, invited the Alexandersons to Utah. "We visited and we just loved it over here so we moved here 21 year ago," Helen Alexanderson Alex-anderson said. She had worked with Chritian Dior for 13 years. At first, Alexanderson stayed home with her four young children. In 2000 with her children no longer young, she decided to open a bridal store in Sandy. Four years later, she got so ill with kidney and back problems, she had to close the store. It took a while to recover, but in April she was able to open Alterations by Helen in American Fork. The machines Alexanderson works with each have a specific purpose. "They all do different things," she said. "This one does 3,500 stitches in one minute. min-ute. This one is a Serger, this one is very fast also." Another is for zigzag and buttonholes, one for tailoring and two smaller Sergers for veils and edging. The seventh machine is a back up machine. "I can't work in slow motion any more," Alexanderson said and smiled. "It's terrible." Her LDS temple-ready wedding wed-ding dresses, some with eight-foot eight-foot long trains, are priced from $299 to $499. Her hand-beaded hand-beaded dresses including her formals are slightly higher in cost. Sizing ranges from size 2 Utah Stars . r Da for too Jodi Siichnd Fox 13 News Local celebrities dance the night away raising funds for Wasatch Mental Health. f m m ' "' r Micuk-I FNnn FimrruilaT f y Jill Stevens Miss Utah -i J Wednesday, May 28th Q. Covey Center for the Arts 425 W. Center Street Provo, VT 84601 Gary Anderson Commission Chair Jaden Bliss SingerSongwuTi'ter Dinner With the Stars 5:30 p.m. Performance 7:00 p.m. " Show Tickets: $20 I Show and Dinner With the Stars: $50 B0 Sieve Turley City Council llm 5 fin Mary Louise ZelLir Taekwondo Champion HA riilrnl TMwHi I I Bring your cash, wallet and chekbook to help us decide who will be the next i ... ,?. i . Celebrity Champion! For more info & event location, visit Sponsored By: ? ' j v jnitflllJ&iHfMttlft Lee Nelson Author Jane Petty One of Jeans Golden Girls " r-r rmn M.i 1 1,1.1. i .. J Cosmo BVU Mascot to size 23. She designs her own blessing bless-ing gowns priced from $45 up, makes temple recommend holders and other LDS gift items. "I'm a pretty happy person," she said. "I love to do the little baby blessing dresses. I get thank you notes from everybody every-body and everybody loves them." Alexanderson also provides a small selection of gently used wedding gowns and formals. Each is different and has a touch of Alexanderson style. "I try to do things that are different, things nobody else does," she said. Alterations by Helen Owner: Helen Alexanderson Address: 62 W. Main St., American Fork Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, Sat-urday, 9a.m. to 4 p.m. Contact: 801-369-9155 Same day or next day service ser-vice often available. No appointment necessary. Additional Ad-ditional charges may apply to expedited service. Spring Hill Suites The Marriott's Spring Hill Suites at Thanksgiving Point, northwest Ix-hi, is hosting its grand opening May 29 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3:30 p.m. It will be a 3-hour open house and the public is invited to attend. Open house Wendy Whatcott is hosting host-ing a garden party and quilt show to celebrate the grand opening of her new "Hawlcy Garden Weddings" reception business, 55 E. Center St., Pleasant Grove, on May 31 from 6-9 p.m. The public is invited. Fitness study Curves and Avon are collaborating together to conduct one of the largest fitness fit-ness studies on women in the United State. Participants are need. Those who volunteer will receive a start and finish fitness evaluation, 30 days free access to CurvesCom-plete.com, CurvesCom-plete.com, supervised training train-ing from a Curves trainer for a dollar a day. Participants must commit to 30 days and work out three times a week. Deadline to register for the fitness study is June 30. Registration is being taken at Lehi Curves. 801-7G84855, 785 E. 200 South, no. 12, or by contacting any Curves facility. Olafis hiding Olaf, Pleasant Grove's persnickety Viking, is hiding hid-ing again. "Find Olaf while you invest in his future!" is the next clue. He is hiding in one of Pleasant Grove Business Alliance "Where's Olaf?" sponsors, Allred's Ace Hardware, BMW of Pleasant Grove, Close to My Heart, Edward Jones Investments and Parts Unlimited. Visit these locations, find Olaf, and enter to win a $100 prize. Participants can also visit the PGBA Web site at www. pgbaut.com for more information. 1 ; What's your outdo o sport of choice7 rv J: S v.- . ' We've got that! . . . .Conl brought to you by; r -tiiii GUOARU a ' 2nil$Hcrntt |
