Cindy Russell has many dreams. One of them came true on October 3, 2003 when she opened the door of her Disney gifts and collectibles store, “Where The Magic Begins”. A year later, and a lot of happy guests have stopped by to share her enthusiasm for collecting and enjoying Disney memorabilia. Thanks to her husband, Rick, and a lot of other folks, the dream grew even bigger as the store celebrated it’s first anniversary last Saturday.
Lots of work went into getting ready for the big day including all kinds of festive decorations inside and out! Even a few interesting balloons here and there…
It was one heck of a great event. The day may have started off a bit grey and in a fog, but once the clouds cleared, it was bright sunshine, and lots of great memories to be made. Starting off the day was the arrival of Radio Disney’s Freestyle Franco. You can’t miss this one!
The Radio Disney van in Livermore!
There was a lot of great music and fun games for everyone including T-shirt relay races, family “Name That Disney Tune” and bean-bag tosses for all kinds of great Disney prizes.
The Princesses keeping watchful eyes on the T-Shirt Relay Race finale.
One of the highlights of the festivities was the opening of the new Fine Art Gallery. After lots of hard work, it is a great space to display some classic pieces. Complete with a couple of golden Mickey’s (that once graced a Disney Store display), and a customized six-foot round couch, the Gallery is very inviting, During the big day, it was a busy place as guests flocked to see (and buy!) pieces on all four walls.
Views of the Gallery before the Grand Opening
The day saw the arrival of several special guests on hand for the big event. A crowd favorite back again was Margaret Kerry, actress and the reference model for Tinkerbell from Disney’s “Peter Pan”. She was happy to share plenty of memories along with signing autographs and taking a picture now and then.
Also on hand was Alan Surbagh from Collectors Editions. They offer some great works from an interesting group of very talented artists. One of those is Jim Silvati, and he was also there answering questions about his works on display in the Gallery, including this great Pinocchio giclee.
Jim Salvati, Cindy Russell and Alan Surbaugh
But the artists didn’t end with Jim! Sculptor Dusty Horner was on hand with a fine selection of the pieces he has done for Starlite Originals. Answering questions about the production of these kept him busy for quite some time!
Cindy and Dusty Horner during a short break…
It was a busy day all around. Plenty of great Disney collectibles of all kinds went home to be enjoyed by their new owners. There were drawings for some great prizes including a Disney Travel package for four to visit Disneyland (including Park Hopper passes and accommodations at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels!).
Even with all of the great events of the day, Cindy isn’t done yet! This coming Saturday, Ron Lee is at the store on Saturday with many of his classic pieces. And then on the following weekend on Sunday the 17 th, Christmas comes a bit early as Where The Magic Begins celebrates the arrival of new Holiday merchandise of all kinds.
Thanks to all of the volunteers who made this a day to remember. Here’s hoping that this was only the first of many anniversaries to come!
And — Special Thanks to Court Hollenbeck for many of the photos that accompanied this story!
I may be a bit like a broken record here pushing the American Red Cross for your consideration at the end of my column. However, there are a lot of people they continue to help on a daily basis all over the world right now. If you can share something, it is always a good time to do so.