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Red wigs, wild muumuus: Utica’s Mrs. Roper Romp grows into a summer must-do · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Red wigs, wild mumose, Utica's Missus Roper Romp grows into
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  a summer must do. Written by Tom Collins, this article
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  is being read by an automated voice brought to you
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  by Everlett. If you were in Utica on Saturday, then
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  you might have spotted lots of red curly hair and
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  some eye popping clothes. And that's not eye popping in
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  a good way. Lisa Dias of Vassal was among those
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  who made a bee line for the village's Missus Roper Romp,
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  a funfare in which participants dress as Helen Roper, a
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  TV character of your who boasted shocking red hair and
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  even more shocking attire. Dias had read about Missus Roper
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  romps sprouting across the nation. When she learned one would
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  take place in Utica, Dia sent for a girlfriend in
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  Wisconsin to join her and went shopping online for a
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  red wig and the most garish mumu on offer. I
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  did it just for the fun of it, the silliness,
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  Diya said, I mean, you can't beat it. This is
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  the second year in a row the village has hosted
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  a Missus Roper Romp, and it's quickly proving a draw,
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  Organizers expected attendance to double thanks to word of mouth
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  and an entertaining schedule of events featuring live music and
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  a hula hoop contest. Tiffany Sikierka of LaSalle threw together
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  her Missus Roper ensemble from old Halloween costumes and a
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  swimsuit cover. She too recruited girlfriends to join her and
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  try to outdo one another with cringe inducing garb. I
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  have done the Witches Walk a couple of times, Sekierka said,
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  and I figured this would be like the summer version
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  for the uninitiated. Helen Roper, portrayed by Audre Lindley, was
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  a television character from the hit comedy Three's Company, which
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  aired from nineteen seventy seven to nineteen eighty four. Helen
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  Roper scored laughs for her garish clothing and personality to match,
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  and was so popular that ABC created a spin off,
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  The Ropers, starring Lindley and Norman fell as husband Stanley Roper,
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  that aired from nineteen seventy nine to eighty So how
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  exactly did a fictional TV character from nearly fifty years
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  ago fuel a national craze? According to National Public Radio
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  Missus Roper romps began in twenty thirteen in New Orleans
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  during an event called Southern Decadence. Women and some men
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  in wigs and mumoose popped across social media and inspired
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  copycat events. Last year, missus Roper made her way to Utica.
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  Jackie Thompson, an employee at Bruce and Allis, followed the
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  wacky movement on Facebook and proposed bringing a Missus Roper
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  romp to Utica. Bruce and Alis and Ginger Road Brewing Co.
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  Sponsored the first Utica event last summer. It was an
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  immediate hit. I could not get over the sea of
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  red wigs in Utica. Recalled Amy Stash of Peru, and
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  we said we're totally doing this again next year. We
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  had people who specifically planned their visit to Utica for
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  the second annual event. Jen Setwinski, co owner of Bruce
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  and Ali's, said the inaugural event drew more than three
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  hundred people. This year, organizers doubled down and dared participants
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  to come with their brightest moo moose and wear your
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  clunkiest jewelry heading into Saturday. Facebook responses suggested a turnout
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  of seven hundred. It's good old fashioned fun. Sa Twinsky said,
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  Helen Roper embraces loud, energetic, here for the party energy
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  and is unapologetic for it. Helen Roper may be the
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  butt of the joke, but Stash said there's an appealing
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  aspect of her character that brings warmth to the rump.
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  Helen Roper is unapologetic of who she is, Stash said,
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  but that shamelessness enables her to embrace others without judgment.
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  She was just accepting of everyone and just wanted everyone
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  to have fun and get along. Stash said, And nowadays,
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  I think that is such a popular positive attitude to have.
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  Let's have fun, Let's be accepting of who everybody is
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  and just have a good time. The