InterView
By Chris Murphy
Modesto is special because of the many innovative and creative people in our community. There are those that do and those that talk about doing and ModestoView loves the people that DO things, make things happen, and create things. Since this is October and we love Halloween, we are going to celebrate this month as much as we can and since this is ROCKtober as well, we will be celebrating the music in our community at the MAMA Awards and also with the California Women’s Music Festival. We would like you to meet people that make this season special, Dana Walters of DayDreams and Nightmares
Daydreams and Nightmares on 7th St is mission control for every dress up event and is the epicenter of all things paranormal in our community. We can always count on them to support our crazy cover and theme ideas and they can make any event you can think of special. Plus they give back to our community with the Every 15 Minutes program and so much more. Plus, DayDreams is located where a crematorium used to be. Let’s meet Dana.
ModestoView: What excites you most about this time of the year?
Dana Walters: This time of year I get excited watching the people of Modesto come into my shop excited about the parties they are having & how they want to look the best at their parties with costumes & make-up.
MV: You participate in the supernatural all year long, what are some of the things that give you chills in the night?
DW: Hearing footsteps behind you & no one is there. I sneezed one time at the shop & someone said “bless you” ! I was alone at the time. When I first bought the building (funeral home) I was there by myself & felt like someone was in the shop with me , so I took out my camera took two pictures 1st pic looked normal , the second one had a weird light showing & you can see a man standing in the doorway! That scared me & I left quickly.
MV: What are some of the craziest costumes you have done for people?
DW: One of the craziest costumes we did was for Anderson’s towing company! They came to us & wanted a tow truck costume! We made it for them! It matched their trucks they use everyday! We also made a toothbrush for a local dentist.
MV: Since you are located in a former crematorium, does that make this kind of work extra special?
DW: I feel being in an old funeral & crematorium adds to my shop, there is history & stories here. Just like with each & every costume we have. For example I have some of my mother’s old 1950’s authentic clothing. In perfect shape & ready for rentals. My mother used to always sing on the radio with her father & brother who went on to play at the Grand Ole Opry.
MV: What is something you want everyone to know about you and DayDreams and Nightmares?
DW: Not only are we a costume & make up store but we do far more through out the year. We work with the police dept. helping doing mock shooting drills. We also do the make up at a lot of the high schools for the Every 15 Minutes program. So when we are helping a customer we can tell you by experience what works & what doesn’t! We don’t just sell the products, we use and create them.
We are also active in Stanislaus county foster care program. We volunteer doing make up for the county Foster kids at the annual backpack parties. We use costumes & come to the annual Christmas Parties & the community donates at our shop during Christmas for the kids with no permanent homes! We donate to helping Enoch’s High School Forensics & Bio Tech Classes, by doing zombie lab mishaps for educating kids of Stanislaus County. Daydreams and Nightmares Day Dreams and Nightmares 1219 N 7th St. 209-575-0023
Caption Dana Walters (l) and Milan Motroni
