Published: April 04, 2009 11:16 pm      

Much planning, decorating goes into Ladybug Brunch

Legend has it that ladybugs are lucky.

So when supporters of the Dalton First United Methodist Church’s pre-school and daycare programs decided to hold a fundraising women’s brunch, they called it the Ladybug Brunch.

It turned out to be more than lucky. It became a tradition, and Saturday, the church hosted the seventh annual Ladybug Brunch.

“We started working on this six months ago,” said Mae Jensen, the chairman of the Ladybug committee. “When school started, we had the first discussions. We started assigning our committee people. Then, after Christmas, that’s when we really started making serious plans.”

The brunch includes a silent auction and a raffle, where the women could win anything from handmade jewelry to large flower arrangements to a day at the spa. The items were donated by church members, parents of children in the church’s programs and community members.

“We’ve had people come in — who don’t have children here, who aren’t church members — but they’ve heard about what we are doing and wanted to donate,” said Jensen.

But the highlight of the event was the brunch itself and the tables that some of the women spent weeks planing and hours putting together. One of the tables this year had a pirate theme, complete with a treasure chest in the center and “gold coins” scattered about. Another had a Mad Hatter theme, with a large black top hat in the center and smaller white top hats at each of the seats for the guests to wear.

In the past, tables have featured ice sculptures and even a mock tornado for a “Wizard of Oz” theme.

The event has grown from eight tables at the first brunch to 40 at the latest.

Preschool director Lynda Johnson has been decorating tables at the event since it started.

“I usually do one or two, but a couple of years I did three,” she said. “Anything goes when it comes to the themes. But a lot of them are child-oriented because it is for the children’s programs. It’s amazing what people continue to come up with.”

The preschool, daycare and nurseries serve about 150 children. Some of those children are the children or grandchildren of church members, but that isn’t required to take part in the programs.

Jan Byrum, the church’s director of children’s ministries, says the Ladybug brunch is very important for the daycare and preschool, helping them to hold down the costs of tuition.