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Vintage dress donated to Vineland teen's prom gown giveaway

Deborah M. Marko
@dmarko_dj

VINELAND - Reading about the Vineland High School senior collecting gowns to give cash-strapped teens a prom night to remember sparked a treasured memory for 85-year-old Sybil Rosen.

Inside her closet, tucked in a black garment bag, was the gown she wore on a cherished night shared with her beloved husband of 59 years, David Rosen, who passed away in 2011.

“It popped into my head just then to find some young lady who would do it justice,” she said, during an interview at her Chestnut Avenue home.

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Sybil Rosen speaks to The Daily Journal about her vintage dress she is donating for Vineland High School Prom at her home on Monday, February 20.

Perfect timing popped up a lot in Rosen’s life.

After calling off two engagements, the then Miss Goldberg was free when a friend introduced her to a handsome 6-foot Vineland teacher, who asked her on a date.

“It was at the Drive-In on Delsea Drive,” she said.

There was instant chemistry.

“We were driving to a restaurant when he asked me to marry him,” Rosen said, “but we only knew each other about two months.”

Before they made it to the White Sparrow Inn, Miss Goldberg had consented to become Mrs. Rosen.

The dress hanging in the closet was not part of her trousseau.

When they exchanged vows  Aug. 12, 1951 in a little synagogue in Alliance, she said, “I didn’t wear a gown.”

She flipped through a scrapbook of sepia-tinted photographs stopping at a wedding photo where she is wearing a dress and pretty hat.

Rosen’s job as an advocate for the mentally disabled took the family across the country.

“On the road again,” she said, explaining how they ended up in Spokane, Washington in 1969. That New Year’s Eve, their synagogue hosted a formal party.

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And that’s how Rosen acquired her prized dress “by accident.”

Sybil Rosen poses for a photo with her vintage dress she is donating for Vineland High School Prom at her home on Monday, February 20.

Not a shopper by nature, she committed to finding something special because “I thought it would be my only gown."

“I went with my friend to this dress shop, where she shopped,” she said. “I saw this dress and I said, 'That’s it, that’s me.'

“It was a one-of-a-kind dress,” she said, revealing the brown/russet floral print with a high-low hemline accessorized with a wide yard trim and high V-neck.

“I bought it,” she said, noting it was a bit expensive. “‘I thought to myself, “Dave better not say anything because I want this dress.”

She didn’t have to worry.

“He liked it,” she said. “I showed it to him and he wanted to see it on right away.”

On the last eve of 1969, Rosen piled her brunette hair in a crown of curls and slipped on her size 10 gown.

Sybil Rosen on New Years Eve in 1969.

“I felt like a movie star, Elizabeth Taylor,” she said. “I’m a shy person, so standing out was a shock — of course, the compliments were nice to have.”

The night was magical.

“I was happy,” she said.

Since then, the gown remained a mainstay in her closet as time moved on and they continued to move around the country raising their three children.

When Rosen read in The Daily Journal about  Julia Scala’s Cumberland County Prom Shop campaign to help girls find their dream gowns, Rosen thought, “That’s very nice of her.”

Scala will host  a one-day free dress event set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 26 at the Arts of the Dance Centre, 1925 E. Chestnut Ave., Vineland, where dress donations may also be dropped off.

Rosen wanted to contribute.

It was time to let go of the vintage gown, she said, calling it a bittersweet parting.

“It is in a way, only because I love looking at it,” Rosen said. “But I’m never going to wear it again.”

Scala welcomed Rosen’s gown to her inventory. She was moved when she learned how precious it was to the donor as well as its happy history.

Her current donated inventory, representing several decades, will help others make new memories, she said.

“These dresses will be one of a kind,” she said.

To arrange a donation, contact Scala at Cumberlandcountyprom@yahoo.com.

Deborah M. Marko: (856) 563-5256; dmarko@gannettnj.com