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Ross Park Mall Anniversary Sparks Modeling Memories for Mom, Daughter

When she was a toddler, Valerie Sarel of Shaler modeled for a catalog for JC Penney, one of the mall's original flagship stores.

 brings back memories for Penny Kane of Wexford.

Her daughter Valerie, now 27 and living in Shaler, modeled for a catalog for  one of the mall’s original flagship stores, when she was just a toddler.

The half-page ad in 1987 featured the little girl with waist-length auburn hair and green eyes sitting in a floral print dress.

By age 3, Valerie was building a portfolio with modeling gigs for Kaufmann’sMurphy Mart and other local stores arranged through Donna Belajac, an up-and-coming talent scout.

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Had Valerie’s family not moved to Florida for her father Jim’s  career, her foray into modeling would have flourished, said Penny Kane, who was prompted by the mall’s silver anniversary celebration Monday to pull out an album filled with Valerie’s photographs.

“My favorite is from the Pittsburgh Sunday magazine, where she’s standing behind a screen in a frilly dress, holding a bunch of flowers,” Penny Kane said. “It’s a back-to-school shoot from 1987.”

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That photo and others precede the digital age, when images are routinely airbrushed or photo-shopped. Valerie wore no makeup and there were no stylists to fuss with her hair, her mother said.

“We’d arrive, and they’d hand me the clothes they wanted Valerie to wear, and we were pretty much on our own.”

Valerie earned $15 an hour, which Penny put toward her daughter’s college fund, but sessions seldom went longer than an hour, she said.

“The photographers were pretty efficient. They didn’t want to have to pay you for a second hour.”

Now married to  and working as an interior designer, Valerie has only vague memories of her time in front of the camera. She said she never aspired to make modeling a profession. Although she has the same long, auburn hair, “I’m too short,” she said, with a laugh.

While she loves fashion and makeup, she channels her passion for beautiful things into her career. She’s most proud of having designed her husband’s Cranberry restaurant, , which features locally grown products and sustainable practices, including donating used cooking oil to a local biofuel manufacturer. 

The only time she thinks about her child modeling days is when her mother pulls out old photos.

“I remember being posed and being doted on,” she said. “I was told to sit up straight and put my fingertips on my knees. I’d sit in a little princess pose. Usually I was photographed with a little boy. It was fun, but once I left and went home I’d forget all about it.”

As a teenager, a Kaufmann’s TV ad in which she’d appeared popped up when she was watching ‘The Grinch That Stole Christmas’ with friends.

“I rewound the video and said, ‘Look, that’s me,’” Valerie recalled. “It was kind of weird to have that happen, but they all got a big kick out of it.”

Although child modeling is much bigger business today, Valerie thinks parents need to keep it in perspective.

“It’s pretty sad the way young girls are putting on womanly makeup that makes them look 20 years older than they are,” she said. “Little innocent kids are supposed to be little kids. To glorify glamour is disturbing.” 

Her mother, who works part time at Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford, agreed.

“If a child wants to model, that’s fine, but don’t push them," she said. 

“We decided to give it a whirl because people were always commenting on Valerie’s beautiful auburn hair. For us, it was an adventure.”

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