EMPTY NEST: Katherine Craig models her own wearable arts creation, titled Empty Nest Syndrome, at last year’s event. Photos Troy Baker
THIS year’s Annual Charity Fashion Parade and Garden Party promises to be another treat for the region’s women.
Tickets are now on sale for the October 30 event, hosted by The Good Garden Company in Whakatane, where entertainment will again be provided by fabulous comedian, singer and all-round entertainer Jackie Clarke.
Jackie is no stranger to Whakatane, or the fashion parade, having stepped in at the last minute to replace Lorraine Downes in 2014.
The event will serve as the launch pad for another fundraising calendar – an image from which features on the front page of this week’s Eastern Bay Life. Whakatane Floral Art Group are behind this calendar which, like its popular predecessor, the Pink Angels calendar, is full of stunning images shot by Troy Baker.
Since its humble beginnings in 2008 as a small after-work gathering, the fundraising fashion show and garden party has grown to become a highlight of the Eastern Bay’s annual events calendar. It was moved from a week day to a Sunday afternoon in 2011 and that’s when it really took off.
The 2016 event will be MC’ed by Christine Tulloch from Radio 1XX with pre-afternoon live music from the EBOP-a-leles and nibbles prepared by the Waiariki Bay of Plenty Polytechnic hospitality and culinary arts students.
RIGHT: A detail from one of Troy Baker’s photos to appear in this year’s calender featuring Izzy Berntsen in a maize field.
The afternoon will end with a fashion parade featuring the latest spring and summer fashions from a range of Whakatane stores. With the closure of Fashion Works and the departure of Kelly Doyle, one of the main organisers of the parade, the decision was made to turn it more into a fashion extravaganza featuring clothing and footwear from Envy, Pattersons, Rosita’s and Stirling Sports.
Maggie McKenzie, the flamboyant manager of the Hospice Shop, will be creating some “Boob-il-icious Bizarre Bras, from treasures found at the shop. There will also be raffles and a silent auction.
All funds raised from the event, and the calendar, will go to the Eastern Bay Breast Cancer Support Network, which supports women and their families following breast cancer diagnoses.
Tickets for the event are $50 and numbers are limited. They are available from Envy, Patttersons, Rosita’s, Stirling Sports and The Good Garden Company.