Dress A Child day

One by one, the children filed out of the bus as their assigned numbers were called out, ready to meet the sponsors who would help them find their correct size in Underoos and blinking Skechers.

It was Dress a Child day at Fred Meyer on Saturday. And about 100 kids felt better for it with their new Hannah Montana and Iron Man sweaters, jackets and pajamas.

Five-year-old Miguel Hernandez was beaming for the Skechers shoes with Velcro straps that his sponsor, Beth Zuver, helped him pick out, when he abruptly stopped at the sight of red socks decorated with reindeer.

“Those are Christmas socks, Bub,” Zuver said, gently urging him down the aisle to the bin full of white socks.

“Yeah, but I like them,” Hernandez shot back, suddenly forgetting about the festive socks when his eyes caught hold of the underwear jackpot — Spider-Man Underoos.

“There’s a size 6,” Zuver said, helping the spiky-haired boy find the right fit. “Oh, it’s a T-shirt and a brief.”

“You want me to try them?” Hernandez asked.

“No, I don’t think you can put them on in here,” Zuver said.

It was a scene being played out in a similar fashion about 50 times at once as sponsors escorted kids down aisles, helping them pick out new gloves and even rubber boots.

Hosted by the Salvation Army, Dress a Child first began in the early 1980s when mortgage interest rates were sky-high — up to 21 percent — and sawmills were idled by fewer housing starts, causing up 30 percent unemployment in Roseburg, Loyd Hastings said.

Hastings, who owned Gimre’s Shoes in downtown Roseburg for 34 years, has been on the Salvation Army board since the 1960s and helped come up with the idea for Dress a Child day.

“Back in those days it was real tough because there were so many kids that needed clothes,” he said.

Originally, busloads of children were sent to J.C. Penney Co. and Gimre’s Shoes to do their shopping. Several years later, however, J.C. Penney discontinued Dress a Child and Fred Meyer adopted it. Hastings kept fitting shoes at Gimre’s until he closed the store in 1994.

“I’ve been fitting kids over here ever since,” Hastings said in the Fred Meyer shoe department.

With donations coming from several organizations and businesses in the community, kids are given $125 in credit to spend on clothing. Hastings said the real value is closer to $150 after discounts given by Fred Meyer.

Yvonne David, office manager at Salvation Army, and her volunteer, Rosemary Brinkley, help organize Dress a Child day.

Taking place on the second and third Saturdays of each November, Dress a Child puts more than 200 kids in new clothing each year, David said. The kids come from elementary schools in the Roseburg, Winston and Sutherlin school districts.

Upon being asked, each school nominates kids that could benefit from Dress a Child day, Brinkley said.

On Saturday morning, the kids arrived at the Salvation Army in two different shifts, and then they were bused to Fred Meyer by Durham School Services.

Five-year-old Asia Day tore off her shoes to try on some black, shiny boots with fluffy trim coming out the top. They were the right fit, but Day was unable to articulate why they impressed her so much.

Nine-year-old Taylor Roy was on a Hannah Montana tear. By noon she had racked up one shirt, one pair of pants, one jacket and one pair of pajamas bearing the visage of the faux rock star from the Disney Channel.

In the shoe department, Josiah Hernandez, 6, was determined to find shoes that flash a red light with every step. But Hastings couldn’t find his size. And his sponsor, Paige Morgan, 15, figured they would have to compromise on some Skechers that came with a pocket light instead.

“Those are cool, huh?” Morgan said.

But Hernandez wasn’t impressed until she picked the light up and demonstrated how it worked.

“Oh yeah!” the boy said.

• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@nrtoday.com.