Send in the Clowns: Two volunteers spread Valentine’s Day cheer to Providence patients

Published 9:11 am Thursday, February 18, 2010

EVERETT — Being in the hospital on Valentine’s Day is no fun.

That’s why Tom Barkholz, 52, of Darrington, and Jenn Hagedorn, 20, of Bellingham, put on bright clown outfits and makeup, grabbed bagfuls of stuffed animals and handmade valentines and spent most of the day Sunday bringing smiles to patients at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

Barkholz has volunteered as a clown at hospitals for about a dozen years. He does it several times a year during the holidays. Some patients will remember the soft-spoken clown as their only visitor during a Christmas or Thanksgiving they had to spend in a hospital bed.

This time, Barkholz teamed up with Hagedorn as part of a project for a class they are taking at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

“We just thought it would be a really fun way to reach a lot of people,” Hagedorn said.

There were challenges. Where would they get enough stuffed animals? What about the Valentine’s Day cards?

But the response was overwhelming. In the end, the clowns wound up with more than 300 toys donated by family, friends and local businesses and organizations. Kids from several elementary schools and from Hagedorn’s church labored over the handmade cards.

“It just the kind of thing people want to be a part of,” Hagedorn said.

When she first put on her costume, she didn’t know what to expect. She got laughs, surprised looks and kids with their faces pressed tight to car windows.

The clowns started their day at the hospital’s Pacific Campus before they moved on to the Colby Campus. The pair first went around the emergency room, turning heads as they walked with a cart full of stuffed animals and cards.

Debbie Bambrough and her dad Arthur Krause, both of Marysville, were all smiles when they got a surprise visit from the clowns.

The father and daughter were waiting in the emergency room for lab tests results. Bambrough called her dad Sunday morning to wish him a happy Valentine’s Day when she got concerning news. The usually healthy Krause, 77, had a pain in his chest and was feeling dizzy.

They decided not to take any chances and went to get Krause checked out by doctors.

Bambrough’s mom died at the same hospital around Christmas. Krause had cared for his wife for years. Coming back to the hospital wasn’t easy. The brightly painted Barkholz and Hagedorn were a welcome distraction. Bambrough laughed when she snapped a photo of her dad with the clowns.

After the first run in the emergency room, the clowns refilled their cart, squeezed into an elevator with it and headed to the seventh floor, home to oncology patients and some patients who need longer care.

In one room, Virginia Smith, 83, of Mukilteo, welcomed them cheerfully. Smith has been in and out of the hospital for a few weeks. Still, she said she wasn’t about to lose her good spirits.

The clowns brought her a stuffed lion with a red, heart-shaped nose.

Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.