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Ashland show is about more than fashions photo by Jim Craven Sofie Baekgaard, left, models a 1950s party dress while Meryl Bacon wears a turn-of-the-century wedding gown. The dresses will be part of a historical fashion show fund-raiser to honor Ashland's 125th birthday and to boost the sister city program. It'll help sister-city relations, too By DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- When Ashland teens Meryl Bacon and Sofie Baekgaard decided to put on a fashion show, they weren't thinking about glamour and glitz, but honoring Ashland's history and people in other countries. On Dec. 16, Bacon, 18, and Baekgaard, 17, will be strutting down the runway in frocks from throughout the century. Proceeds from the fashion show, to be held at Ashland High School, will begin a fund to help host visitors from Ashland's sister city, Guanajuato, Mexico. The show also will benefit an orphanage in South Africa, where Bacon worked last year while an exchange student. The show also could serve as a way to celebrate the city's 125th birthday, said Councilwoman Carole Wheeldon. She will make the suggestion at the council's meeting on Tuesday and ask the council to allow some of the show's preparation to be done at the Hillah Temple. "Between a few different sources, we should get 125 years' worth of clothing and costumes," Wheeldon said. "I wanted the city to get involved because it sounded like a great community project. ... But it was really Meryl's brainstorm." Wheeldon -- like many from Ashland who visited Guanajuato in August -- was overwhelmed with the hospitality showered upon the more than 100 Ashland visitors. She said when Ashland hosted Guanajuato a few months before, "we barely showed up in comparison." Bacon, a student at Southern Oregon University, and her mother, Jennifer, were along for the trip to Guanajuato. Bacon said they were treated "like royalty" there. The city's symphony put on a private performance for the Ashland visitors. The city's finest restaurants got together and fed them their best dishes. There were parties every night. "They rolled out the red carpet," Bacon said. "They would have huge meals with us and bounties of beer and tequila and entertainment and dancing. "It was overwhelming and wonderful." When Ashland last hosted the Guanajuato residents in April, they treated the people well, but not quite so lavishly, Bacon said. So she thought that if the city started a fund to help host the sister city in the future, it could maybe pump up the volume on American hospitality. She also thought it would be a good way to help the Cosmos Orphanage in South Africa. Baekgaard -- an exchange student from Denmark -- signed on as a way to complete her Ashland High School senior project. "I want to learn about the decades in America," said Baekgaard. "What people wore and what they felt." The Southern Oregon Historical Society is helping the project by providing information, clothing and historical pictures. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will loan costumes. Numerous community groups and individuals are lending their support and skills. An a cappella group called Delusions of Grandeur will sing songs from all the decades strung together with witty interludes. Commentators will tie the fashions to Ashland happenings over the years. Refreshments will be served. "It will be fun," Bacon said. "It will just be really, really fun." The show will be at the Ashland High School Theater at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 16. Tickets will be sold at the door: $3 for children and students, $7 for everyone else. Organizers are continuing to look for vintage clothing; anyone who wants to loan their historical apparel to the cause can call Annette Pugh at 482-1040. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA