On one of the warmest January days in decades, Vera Rogers headed to church Sunday in search of religion, solace and, well, mink.
The foster mother from Chicago's South Side joined more than nine dozen people vying for one of the free fur coats, made of everything from beaver to sable, that were given away to seniors at the Beloved Community Christian Church in Englewood. At 64, Rogers qualified. Sitting in the Gothic-style church for the first time, Rogers rushed forward when her ticket, No. 127, was pulled from the pile of yellow stubs, giving her an early pick of the winter fashions.
"Oh, God, oh, God," Rogers whispered as she fumbled to find her driver's license as proof of her age, her eyes tearing behind her glasses. "I never won anything before, and this is real fur."
She first tried on a full-length fox coat priced at $2,390. Too tight, she said. The sleeves of a sheared beaver coat with a green hue were a tad too short. A Finnish raccoon coat valued at $2,400 suited her perfectly, she said as she posed before a mirror rolled into the church hall.
Not even the record-breaking balmy weather could dampen Rogers' enthusiasm.
With temperatures hitting 60degrees, Sunday was the warmest Jan. 6 the Chicago area had experienced in more than a century, the National Weather Service reported. The mild spell broke the previous record of 54 degrees set in 1907. Rockford also reported a high of 60 degrees, surpassing the 54-degree high reached there in 1946, the weather service reported. Monday's weather promises to be similarly tepid. The warm, foggy air that grounded 200 flights at O'Hare International Airport Sunday will remain throughout the day, said Stephen Rodriguez with the National Weather Service. Temperatures are expected to drop to chilly, fur-wearing weather by midweek.
A warm spell "is the biggest enemy for the fur business," said Bill Doulas, general manager of Andriana Furs, which donated 150 coats worth an estimated $300,000. All the coats had been returned or traded in, rendering them unsalable in the store. The donation to eligible seniors through the church was a first for the Chicago-based furrier, Doulas said.
Nearly 110 tickets were distributed for the coat giveaway, leaving more than enough to go around. Chicago-area residents who could prove they were at least 60 qualified for the drawing designed to mark the close of the Christmas season, said U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), who pastors the Englewood church.
Rush called the donated coats a well-deserved gift for seniors, dismissing the concerns of many animal-rights advocates.
"It could have been 90 degrees, and I'd still have been here," said Sylvia Alston, 63, of Chicago.
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