Building playhouses is a family affair for the Butschers, who are honoring their late mother at this year’s Dallas CASA Parade of Playhouses.
Amy Butscher, senior presentation designer at TRG (The Richards Group) branding and advertising agency, has been contributing to the event for more than a decade.
Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses will be at NorthPark Center July 15-31 to raise funds and awareness for the Court Appointed Special Advocates program and victims of child abuse and neglect. NorthPark Center has hosted the event annually since 1996.
Crest Cadillac / INFINITI / Volvo is sponsoring the Parade, where the custom-built playhouses will be available to win by raffle. All proceeds benefit children living in the protective care of the state.
Giving Back
Butscher began attending the event more than 20 years ago when her children were young.
“We were buying raffle tickets but we didn’t win,” she said. “Then my son won one in 2003, and two years later he won a second one. I was kind of playing around with the idea of building one. After we won the second one, I was determined that we were going to build one and give back.”
Butscher enlisted the help of her brother, Reed, a framing contractor with Butscher Construction, to build her first playhouse for the CASA event in 2007.
“At the time I couldn’t afford to build one on my own,” she said. “I went to Home Depot and they agreed to sponsor us.”
Over the years, Butscher honed her skills as a builder and no longer needs a sponsor to help finance her projects — which have included a pirate ship, the “Up” house from the Disney movie, a treehouse, and a sheriff’s office.
One of six siblings, Butscher doesn’t shy away from a challenge — and she always has an army of relatives on hand to pitch in with a project.
“I’m not a contractor, but I remodeled my house two years ago, doing everything you could possibly do,” she said. “I rewired my house and built my kitchen cabinets.”
Playing The Long Game
While the playhouses can sometimes get a little complicated, Butscher tries to not overthink it. She starts planning her home in the fall and hits her brother up for help around Christmas. Then they procrastinate until about a month before the event when they begin building their playhouse in Reed Butscher’s driveway on evenings and weekends.
“I have three sisters, and the year we did the ‘Up’ house, I gave them each a paint color and we had a little painting party. It’s all family,” she said. “It was kind of accidental in the first place that we got involved in it, but I’ve grown to love the entire playhouse event. It’s such a fun thing to do for kids that are in such tough situations.”
Butscher’s daughter volunteers as an advocate for children with CASA, and Butscher said she, too, is interested in going through the training.
Going Dutch
This year’s Parade of Playhouses is a bittersweet event for the Butscher siblings, who lost their mom last year. Frances Butscher was 90 years old when she passed away in December.
The kids used to call Frances when they loaded up the playhouse and drove it to NorthPark Center, so she could look out her window and watch it go by on a tow truck.
This year they’re going to create a Dutch windmill in her honor.
“She was first-generation American, 100 percent Dutch,” Amy Butscher said. “Her parents were raised in Holland. They raised 10 kids in New Jersey. I wanted to do something that would honor her.”
Dallas CASA volunteers will be on hand at NorthPark Center to sell tickets and answer questions about how to support children who have been abused or neglected and are living in foster care.
Daltxrealestate.com is a media sponsor of the event and will feature exclusive interviews and previews of several Parade of Playhouses designs before the annual fundraiser. Stay tuned!
