There is a lot of truth and reality in the phrase: being at the right place at the right time.
This held true for Jeremy Chapman, MD, a child & adolescent psychiatrist with SSM Health Treffert Studios.
It was fate. While traveling through Fond du Lac on his way to work, Dr. Chapman saw Tons of Fun Costumes on 9th Street and was fascinated for the first moment.
“I love costume shops,” according to Dr. Chapman. “I thought immediately that I’m going to see what’s inside of it. It just so happened that already things were starting to go on sale here and they are getting ready to try moving some of their stuff into customers’ hands. I came in and did a little test run and bought some wigs and glasses which I keep in my desk drawer now at work and use as needed alongside the medications that I give people for treatments.”
Dr. Chapman saw huge potential for use within the Treffert Studios.
“I was like a kid in a candy shop when I came in and saw all the different stuff here,” he recalls. “We have some budget funds allocated for costumes and here’s a place that’s got an amazing collection of handmade, quality costumes. They were made with care and love over the course of many years. To have this collection of stuff available to us, it just naturally made sense to be part of the story of the Treffert Studios.”
Tons of Fun Costumes has been a part of Sharon Bonzelet’s life since early 1992.
“We opened February 2, 1992 in my front room at my house,” Sharon shares. “I’ve always loved Halloween and I love history. I always wanted to own a business. I didn’t know what type of business, but as I got more and more interested in the costumes, I felt this would be a good business because I loved it any way.”
A few years later, Sharon and her husband purchased the house next door, and moved the costume shop to its current location. The shop continued to grow.
“It grew right along,” according to Sharon. “We offered singing telegrams along with costumes. When advertising our singing telegrams, we made a big yard sign in our front yard, and everyone wanted to rent it. So we decided we would do yard signs too. We diversified that way, and that helped with the costume shop and helped with networking opportunities.”
The new location helped the costume shop’s success. “We needed the room, and that’s when things really began to flourish because I started not only sewing more costumes, but I started buying from different vendors. We kept growing.”
To help promote the shop to the community, Tons of Fun Costumes participated in local parades. “We started with Christmas parades. We enlisted help from friends, and they had a great time in the parades. They would figure out little dances to do down the parade route. No one knew who they were so they were free to be themselves and become the character they represented.”
As time progressed, Sharon’s arthritis made costume design and construction increasingly difficult. That’s when Sharon and her family decided to close Tons of Fun Costumes after nearly 30 years. “Our decision was a combination of things. In addition to the arthritis, we were getting older and felt we would like to do something more, not having responsibility of the costume shop anymore. I loved working with everybody but there is a big responsibility when you start custom designing for people.”
So Dr. Chapman’s timing was perfect.
“Costumes are fun,” he says. “At the Treffert Studios, we anticipate giving people who come in to work with us the widest range of creative tools and supplies as we can so that they can express themselves and they can find different ways to bring out their inner selves as they work with us. Having a full range of costumes, wigs, props, etc. will let us do live performances, improv comedy shows, create short films, or vlogs, YouTube channels, anything that will add a sense of fun to the atmosphere and collaboration, and that will hopefully bring out some of the skills for independence and confidence that we also want to instill in the young folks that we work with.”
This massive donation from Tons of Fun Costumes “will change the appearance and the functionality of the studios,” according to Dr. Chapman. “The visual of these racks of colorful wigs and hats and costumes cultivates that sense that this is an atmosphere where you can come in be yourself and have a little bit of fun and let loose, and it’s just visually pleasing as well.”
In fact, Tons of Fun Costumes sold all existing stock at a 90 percent discount, offering a nearly $40,000 in-kind gift to the Agnesian HealthCare Foundation in support of the SSM Health Treffert Studios.
If you would like to make a financial gift, contact the Agnesian HealthCare Foundation at 920-926-4959 to discuss how your support can make on impact for SSM Health Treffert Center services, or visit treffertstudios.com.
About the SSM Health Treffert Studios
The SSM Health Treffert Studios - to be located at the Moraine Park Technical College in Fond du Lac - is an innovative 8,500-square-foot facility, housing a large variety of creative tools and innovative technology (video/film equipment, music instruments, art supplies, etc.). Construction is set to begin this spring with an anticipated fall opening.
The Treffert Studios will allow everyone to collaborate on creative arts and multimedia projects, thereby developing teamwork and communication skills, building confidence through self-expression, securing gainful employment, and ultimately taking the lead in their own lives. This new physical and virtual space expands clinical services and offerings to neurodivergent young adults as well.
