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May 2010  |  By Mibs  |  Comments (0)

Annual Rush Junior Board Fashion Show a "Fairytale" Success

More than 300 people attended the Rush University Medical Center Junior Auxiliary Board’s annual Fashion Show, this year themed "A Fashion Fairytale."

Held in the Kenilworth Club on Sunday, April 25, the event featured 98 individual outfits modeled by members of the high school girls' board, with behind-the-scenes support from 25 additional board members. Chaired by two New Trier seniors -- Lindsay Boles (Kenilworth) and Logan Turban (Northfield) -- the show was the final event in the group's most successful fundraising year, with over $30,000 raised in 2009/2010 to support The Woman’s Board Heart and Vascular Center at Rush.

"Community support is critical to an event like this," said Boles. Retailers from across the North Shore shared their fashions with the board, enabling the show to feature a wide range of contemporary and classic clothing.

This year's retailers included Akira, Aritzia, Enaz, Francesca's, Frannie, Fresh Ideas, Gigi's Closette, Lillie Alexander, Marian Michael, Stella+Grace, Three Sisters, and Valentina. Turban added, "It is so great to have the fashion sense of our retailers to draw from. We could never put on a fashion show like this, with nearly 100 models, without the retailers' support." The 12-member executive board conclude their term leading the group at this event, and were presented in formalwear from Gigi's Closette, lead by escorts wearing tuxedos provided by Winnetka's Marian Michael.

The Fashion Show comes on the heals of a record-breaking annual Holiday Tea, chaired by Hope Fairclough (Wilmette), Maddie Hilbrant and Caroline Kenter (both Winnetka).  Attended by more 525 people, the event has become a traditional start-of-the-holiday-season moment for many area families, where they stock up on hand-crafted items for teachers, relatives and friends.

The group kicks off each new year with a themed Car Wash, which took place in the fall and had a super-hero theme.  The girls dressed in costumes and washed more than 700 cars on a Saturday afternoon in September to raise money for the hospital while bonding as a group.  That effort was coordinated by Ellen Walsh and Ellie Niemann.

In between these events, the 120-person board volunteers with patients in the pediatric and geriatric wards of the hospital, as well as creates craft kits and other items to help keep patients comfortable during their stay.  Other board members include Caroline Kendall, the group's President; Madeline Tobisch, VP of Membership; Heidi Voelker, VP of Volunteers; Layne Teska, Treasurer; and Emily Golan, Secretary.