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03/02/2022 07:30 AMEver since Cherie Bicknell’s four-year-old daughter Kaylee was just seven months old, she has participated in pageants. Through their involvement, Cherie recently heard a request for donations of prom dresses to be donated to students in need.
“A friend of mine who’s part of our team asked if we’d collect dresses for a drive and the more I thought about it, the more I started wondering if we did anything like that in town,” says Cherie. “I reached out to a couple people and realized we didn’t and when I posted the idea [on social media], everyone loved it.”
Now just more than a month later, Cherie has created Kaylee’s Prom Land Boutique with a goal of not only collecting formal wear for prom goers, but shoes, accessories, and gift certificates for various services as well. Items can be delivered to The Beach House, 148 Casey Beach Avenue, or Hayes School, 1 Maple Street, on Saturday, March 5 and Saturday, March 12 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cherie has had a positive response from both residents and businesses in East Haven and many in the surrounding community, including Attilio’s Men’s Clothing, Flowers by Lisa, Sports Clips, and Nail Expressions, have donated gift cards for things services such as nails, haircuts, flowers, alterations, and garment cleaning. Cherie is not only organizing the event, but donating as well. Cherie and her friend Shay Cloney are Paparazzi Accessories representatives and will be donating jewelry and accessories.
“So far the overwhelming response with people who want to donate or want to help has been breathtaking,” says Cherie. “This is something we need in town and the kids are already talking about it in school.”
Though Cherie brought the idea to East Haven, she knew she would need help executing the event. As Cherie recently volunteered with both the backpack drive and holiday toy drive, she knew that Annarose Russo and Ann Kennington are involved in a number of town organizations and fundraisers.
“I knew they’d be a great resource because they do so much for the town and are involved in so much,” says Cherie. “I reached out to them with the idea and they jumped right in.”
In their latest planning meeting, Cherie suggested naming the event after her daughter as one of her goals is to show her children the importance of giving back to the community. Kaylee is the youngest of Cherie’s four children. Seven-year-old Chase goes to Momauguin. Her oldest, Christopher, works in HVAC and Joshua is studying to be an electrician at Lincoln Tech and was recently hired by Amtrak.
“My older boys used to volunteer with my mom feeding the homeless at the shelter in New Haven when they were young,” says Cherie. “I’m trying to teach my kids to do good for other people and their communities. I’ve always liked to help people whenever I could.”
Due to a career change, Cherie now has more time to invest in the community. She worked at Chili’s for more than 20 years, serving the last several as general manager in Milford and then East Haven.
While she loved her job, the hours were demanding. Cherie worked long hours, often missing out on time with her family and holidays. When her fiancé, Bill Schlotterhausen, was offered a new job at the Bridgeport ferry that required him to be on the ferry for three to four day stints, Cherie explored other options.
A former coworker, Shannon Foley, had left Chili’s two years ago to begin working as an applied behavioral analysis trainer at ACES. Over the years, Foley told Cherie how much she would enjoy the job and when Schlotterhausen took his new job, Cherie knew it was time to make a change.
“When she started, I wasn’t ready to make a move because I loved what I was doing with Chili’s, but I also I love kids,” says Cherie, who is getting married this September. “When Bill got this job, I finally had to say, ‘You supported me through my decisions and my hours, I’ll support you.’ I made that choice and it was the best choice I’ve ever made. Now I get the time with my kids, no more missing holidays, and I love going to work every day. It was very life-changing.”
Now Cherie works during school hours, helping autistic children learn behaviors and life skills. She works with her student both individually and in the classroom and has found the job “very rewarding.”
The other benefit Cherie found with her career change is that she now has time to give back. While she always tried to donate or help where she could, her busy schedule at the restaurant didn’t allow her to volunteer on a regular basis. With her new hours, this past fall, she got involved in the backpack drive and then the holiday toy drive in town.
She also found she had time to focus on herself. Cherie had always loved watching Kaylee—and occasionally Chase—participate in pageants. During those years, she saw women competing and was always intrigued. This past fall, Cherie competed in her first pageant and was second runner-up.
“I’ve watched all these women do these and thought I’d love to do it but I didn’t have the confidence, but once I left the restaurant, it was almost like a new life as I was taking better care of myself and thought I wanted to do a pageant,” says Cherie. “I did it with my daughter and it was awesome.”
While she enjoyed the pageant and would like to do another at some point, Cherie is most passionate about finding ways to give back. Giving back means even more to Cherie because she remembers the impact that programs like this had on her and her family when they needed help. Cherie was still in high school when she had her first child and raised her two older sons as a single mom.
“As a single mom, I always worked hard and did what I had to do and I remember the help I got from the community and it was such a blessing,” says Cherie, who graduated from East Haven High School in 2000. “A majority of people struggle in one way or another and I always want to do what I can to help.”
Now Cherie is busy accepting donations for Kaylee’s Prom Land Boutique. While she is looking forward to seeing the community come together at the upcoming donation dates on March 5 and 12, she is even more excited to open the boutique to students at The Beach House on Saturday, April 2. The boutique will be open to any family in East Haven that “needs help getting their child to the prom,” which is on Friday, May 6.
“Kids can come in, shop, find their shoes, dress, and accessories at no cost to them,” says Cherie. “Our long-term hope is being able to give them the total package—the outfit and gift certificates for the hair salon, nails, corsage. If we could do that this year, that would be fabulous, but that is the goal for the future.”
For information, visit the Kaylee’s Prom Land Boutique EHHS Prom Drive group on Facebook.