Parties Extra! » Helen Ford Sanger Wallace

Responses from etiquette question

Helen Ford Wallace — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:29:26 +0000

Remember this recent blog post on October 11th?

Never know what will come up next….Etiquette Question….

Your Question?/My Answer

Q: On the subject of children’s birthday parties. “ When it comes time to open the presents, there are always so many gifts that my elementary aged child just tears into them and we don’t know who gave him what. Is it ok to give a general thank you after all gifts are opened to all the kids and call it a day and go to play?

A: Some of the children at the party could have spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what your child might want and what to buy him/her. It really might cause hurt feelings if your child does not acknowledge the birthday gift. A better solution is to open the gifts one at a time and thank each child for the gift. It takes a little more time, but your child learns a lot by saying thank you and the gift-giver knows that his gift giving (and maybe package wrapping) efforts were appreciated.

A thank you note from your child is always appreciated.

There were several comments worth sharing about the subject of children’s birthday parties and thank you notes. Here they are…

Their answers:

Hilarie….

Dear Helen,
RE: Etiquette Question?
I am a certified etiquette consultant, a graduate of The Protocol School of Washington (DC), and I agree with your answer! Children can learn acknowledging and showing appreciation at an early age if given the opportunity. It might be nice for the parents to have a conversation prior to the party about how the process will work and how one behaves with all of the excitement of birthdays.
Best regards,

Hilarie H. Blaney, OKC

Carey Sue….

Helen,

You are spot-on with your answer!!!! I love it!!!

When we talk about thank-you notes in class, that is similar to the example I share with the kiddos….how long did it take to figure out what they were going to buy for your gift, they have to go out and purchase it, then wrap it. That takes quite a bit of time. How long does it take you to write a thank-you note??? Not near as much time, energy and effort as the person who gave you the gift! :-)

Carey Sue

Etiquette Expert and director for the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Chapters of The National League of Junior Cotillions and The International League of Corporate Cotillions.

Alan…from twitter

aherz @hfwallace Nice post http://tinyurl.com/ygwh4ek – You didn’t scold in the blog response as harshly as you did when asked in person.

Alan Herzberger, Digital Managing Editor

Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma celebrate anniversary

Helen Ford Wallace — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:53:36 +0000

Karen Luke, Annie Bohanon, Cathy Stackpole and Meg Salyer were at the party in the Salyer home. (Photos by Helen Ford Wallace).

Annie Bohanon, Karen Luke and Meg Salyer honored Cathy Stackpole at a party in the Salyer home to celebrate her anniversary with the Girl Scouts of Western Oklahoma. She has been the Chief Executive Officer for five years.

A beautiful appliquéd white tablecloth was on the table where tea sandwiches, cookies, brownies and cheese and fruit were served about with a special champagne drink.

Julie Nichols, Susan Young and Jim Dawson enjoy the afternoon in the home of Meg Salyer.

Crystal Slater and Connie Wanjohi were at the party.

With Thanks…..

Helen Ford Wallace — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:35:33 +0000

Click Here for Parties Extra! photo gallery

There are excellent bosses, teachers, encouragers in the world.

If you are lucky in the work force, you will encounter one of them in your lifetime. Or maybe a couple of them…..or if you are really lucky, there will be many, many sincere people who say the right thing at the right time and make you feel better that day.

Just so you know where I am going with this….I love Alan Herzberger. He is the digital managing editor of NewsOk. He is an encourager. He makes you feel like you can do whatever you think you can do…..and usually you can. He has ideas. They are great ideas and people listen when he talks.

Here is what he said about me on his very popular blog:

An afternoon break with Helen Ford

Wallace, the trendsetter

Posted by alan herzberger

on August 19, 2009 at 3:02 pm

“I just had a nice afternoon break to discuss blogging with NewsOK’s first staff blogger - Helen Ford Wallace. Helen often stops by on Wednesday afternoon before her 3 p.m. video shoot at OPUBCO Studios on the seventh floor of the OPUBCO tower.

Helen is a trendsetter here at OPUBCO Communications Group. And that’s no exaggeration. After getting to know her about five years ago, I gave her the “trendsetter” title much to her amusement.

I wasn’t amused. It’s the truth.

It started with the blog.
Then came the podcasts; she was the first to regularly bring in Oklahoma City’s heavy hitters to our podcast studios.
Then came the niche publications; she was quick to participate and share her ideas for the OKC N Style magazine that we’ve produce over the past few years.
Then came the videos. You can set your watch by her Parties Extra! video series. Every week, she delivers. Here’s the one from last week:
.
She’s made a career of being a hard worker and the ultimate ambassador for The Oklahoman (and now NewsOK.com and wimgo.com). And just to prove her trendsetter status, she was unafraid to shoot her own video and post to her blog I have a hunch we’ll see more of these posts in the future.And I have a hunch they will get better and better.”

Cecil’s 100th birthday from Parties Extra! on Vimeo.

After I read this, I cried. It made me feel like a new person. I was ready to re-tackle the world…..I wanted to write, edit, produce and do all those things he said I could do.

And for the record, he is one of the people who thought I would write a novel when I said I was going to. Here is what I said about him ( and others) in the credits of the novel that I just finished.

“Thanks to Alan Herzberger, Ford Sanger, Barbara Beeler, Lela Sullivan, Linda James, Lillie-Beth Brinkman, Bill Wallace, Bennett Brinkman, Lee-Ann Graham, Carole Kelley, Susan Sigmon for believing that a book was forthcoming.”

See, he is an encourager.

One other encourager that I know was my first boss… Joan Gilmore. At that time she was Women’s Editor of The Daily Oklahoman. I had just finished college.

I wrote feature stories for her. They were long ones at the time. Her editing style for my stories was that she did not change one word. They went into the newspaper just as I wrote them. In her eyes, they were perfect.

I became a better writer with that encouragement. If she thought that I could write, then I had better write.

And I was a public relations graduate.

My writing and my current production capabilities became much, much better with encouragement.
And that is… thanks to Alan Herzberger!!

Cattle Baron’s Ball Set for August 22

Helen Ford Wallace — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:37:12 +0000

STARS, STETSONS AND STILETTOS

Tammy Padgett, Tara Linville and Carrie Mayes are committtee members for the annual Cattle Baronon’s Ball.(Photo provided).

The 7th Annual Cattle Baron’s Ball, “Stars, Stetsons & Stilettos,” will be on August 22 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. This western-themed gala will benefit the American Cancer Society.

Starting at 6:30 p.m., the event includes a variety of activities including a catered dinner by Deep Fork Grill, drinks, live entertainment by the Perry Meirs Band, live and silent auctions, raffles, cow-milking, mug-sliding, rodeo roping contest. Tickets are $125 per person and must be purchased in advance.

Call 405-841-5818 for tickets and event information.

The Cattle Baron’s Ball live auction will feature a unique opportunity for patrons to bid on hand-painted plates by campers at the American Cancer Society Camp Live-A-Dream. The young cancer survivors are children who have been diagnosed with cancer at some time during their youth.

Auction items include a six day trip to Aruba (private condo), dinner for 20 with Oklahoma legends Billy Sims, Jason White and Steve Owens, autographed Rick Springfield guitar, a pair of shoes a month for a year from Dillard’s.

In addition to bidding on items during the live, silent, and Big Board auctions, attendees will enjoy the annual Pony Preakness stick-horse races. The Cowboy Casino will also be open all night for those guests who prefer cards and dice to ponies or dancing.

Sponsors of the 2009 Cattle Baron’s Ball include Bank of America, Chesapeake Energy, ATC Freightliner Group, LLC, OU Physicians/OU Medicine, Harrison Gypsum Company, United Engines, Integris Health, OG&E, Oklahoma ProCure Treatment Center, Flinto, Inc., and Sheplers.