Isle cancer patient,
8, has wish fulfilled"Natalie's Nalu" salad dressing
hits stores nationwide Sunday
Her wish came in a bottle.
CORRECTION
Friday, Sept. 20, 2003>> Cancer patient Natalie Frazier is 14 years old. A headline on Page A7 yesterday incorrectly gave her age as 8.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at fbridgewater@starbulletin.com.
As Mililani's Natalie Frazier battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, she was offered the chance to have a dream granted.
Her request was simple: her own salad dressing.
"I wanted my wish to be totally unique and give me an opportunity I wouldn't normally have," said Natalie, 14.
Her dream-come-true is "Natalie's Nalu," a raspberry-guava vinaigrette from dressing giant Wish-Bone, and it arrives in stores nationwide Sunday.
Natalie was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation offered to fulfill a dream. She is currently in remission.
Natalie always enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen, so the dressing idea came to mind.
"My goal was to design a product that really represents my personality and where I'm from," Natalie said.
Her wish began at the Wish-Bone headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. She worked with a chef to develop a flavor inspired by her favorite smoothie, perfecting a pink-hued condiment with a zesty, tropical flair.
Natalie came up with the dressing's name, which includes the Hawaiian word for "wave." And she helped design the label -- a cartoonlike image of her surfing the waves near Diamond Head. The illustration's surfboard carries the inscription "Ma'a'la Mea Ola," or "cancer survivor" in Hawaiian.
The girl then went to a New York City photo shoot for the print ad campaign, which will appear in newspapers this weekend.
Wish-Bone is producing 48,000 bottles of the dressing, to be available through January from the Wish-Bone Web site (www.wish-bone.com) or by ordering from a coupon in the newspaper ad. The company is donating the costs of making the dressing, and customers will be asked to pay $1 to partially cover the shipping cost.
