Mount Prospect Historical Society Purse Auction -- October 10

The clock is ticking on reservations for the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s “Power of the Purse” handbag auction on the evening of Thursday, October 10, in the community room of the Mount Prospect Village Hall, 50 S. Emerson St., Mount Prospect. The $10 tickets must be purchased by October 4 at the Mount Prospect Historical Society, 101 S. Maple St., with cash, check or credit, or through PayPal at www.mtphist.org, according to Rachel Toeppen, event chairman. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

The event will feature a wide variety of new and almost-new designer, vintage, quirky and handmade purses and messenger bags for adults and children, donated by retailers, members and friends of the Society and so far includes brand names like Coach, Brighton, Fossil, Vera Bradley and many more.

Of special interest will be a wide variety of handmade purses and bags, ranging from quilted and pieced purses to a felted wool purse, made by members of the Sew-Bee-It Quilters and the Mount Prospect Historical Society Board of Directors.

Alice Tucker, a member of the Sew-Bee-It Quilters since its inception in 2001, made two purses for the event, including a pieced watercolor-pattern purse with dual handles. Over the years she has made several quilts, wall hangings and purses for herself and others. A seamstress since she was ten, Tucker learned to quilt when the Mount Prospect Historical Society started offering quilting classes in 1997.

Laurie Roubitchek’s contribution to the “Power of the Purse” event is a felted wool evening shoulder bag that she knitted with tri-color wool and then felted by washing it in hot water. A member of the Mount Prospect Historical Society’s Board of Directors, Roubitchek has been an avid knitter since her grandmother taught her the skill when she was only five. She regularly crafts hats, scarves, fingerless gloves and Afghans. She even makes scores of tiny infant hats each year for the Preemie Project. But this was her first try, she said, at knitting a purse.

The evening, which will begin at 7 p.m., will feature a fun mix of wine, hors d’oeuvres, entertainment and both silent and live auctions to help participants pick up some truly unique and entrancing handbags for themselves and others and at the same time support the restoration of the one-room 1896 Central School, located at 103 S. Maple Street on the Museum campus. There will also be a “cash and carry” area of purses offered for sale, rather than auction.

“Ask almost any woman and she will tell you that there is no more important accessory than a handbag,” explained Toeppen. “It tells you something about a woman’s personality and state of mind, and since most women carry them day in and day out for an entire season, a purse gets identified with its carrier in a way that a single outfit does not.”

For more information, phone 847/392-9006 or log onto www.mtphist.org.