Never too old to hit the catwalk
<p>Minnie McDonald, 89, prices skeins of yarn in the back room of St. Vincent de Paul’s in Coeur d’Alene. McDonald has been working at St. Vincent de Paul’s for 42 years and will participate in this Friday’s fashion show to raise money for the St.Vincent de Paul’s Warming Center.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - For more than four decades, Minnie McDonald has been a friendly, familiar face at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Coeur d'Alene.
She never expected to be a model for the thrift store at the age of 89, but she will answer glamour's call and walk the runway Friday evening in the St. Vincent "Maison de Couture" Fashion Show, which takes place at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn.
"They asked me, so I said, 'Eh, what the heck?'" she said with a smile. "As long as I can walk."
McDonald said she previously participated in a small St. Vincent fashion show, but that was about 30 years ago.
"We just invited friends," she said. "It was little but I remember it. I have it on VHS someplace."
McDonald worked full time at the thrift store until she underwent heart surgery at the age of 88. She also pursued a health care career along with her employment at St. Vincent. She now works three days a week, mostly cashiering at the front of the store.
"Forty-two years of this, 32 of it I worked as a nurse's aide also, seven days a week," she said. "I feel like I'm on vacation all the time now."
McDonald applied for a position with the thrift store because it was one of her favorite places to shop and she was tired of housekeeping, which she had done for nine years. This was in 1972.
"I lived way out in Medimont at that time, and I'd drive by here and I got to know the girls," she said. "They said, 'Why don't you apply for a job here?' And I wanted to do something different, you know, so I got a job."
McDonald said she is happy to be able to continue working and that her employment at the thrift store has really kept her going.
"I know the people and I like my customers," she said. "I get to know a lot of them, and know a lot of them for years and years, you know - their kids are grown up. I'm real blessed to keep working."
As far as the upcoming fashion show, she's ready to wear the long black skirt, sparkly blouse and furry vest that will have her looking fancy on the runway.
"I'll probably get nervous that night after I get over there, but I'll just get out and walk," she said, laughing.
"Who better to be a celebrity than Minnie?" asked Barb Smalley, development director for St. Vincent. "Someone who is 89, still working and has helped St. Vincent de Paul for 42 years, so what an inspiration she is to all of us."
Doors open at 6 p.m. Friday with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn, 506 W. Appleway Ave. It will include French decor, hors d'oeuvres, drawings, auctions and casual and evening fashions from St. Vincent de Paul thrift stores. McDonald and other local celebrities will model the clothing.
Tickets are $35 each or $250 for a table of eight; tickets are limited. The event is a fundraiser for the St. Vincent de Paul HELP Center, which is a one-stop facility for those in need.
Info: www.stvincentdepaulcda.org or call 416-4716.