Ladies Lodge lining up spectacular day of food, fashion and fun

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

For the Transcript

Winthrop Ladies Lodge President Dottie D’Onofrio and the other women of the local social organization have been working overtime this summer preparing for their newest and best scholarship fundraising event ever.

On Saturday, August 15, beginning at 2 p.m., the Ladies Lodge will host the first-ever Ladies Lodge Project Runway fashion show event at the Don Orione home in East Boston.

“As I’ve been telling people, doing the bake sales just wasn’t bringing in the dough,” joked D’Onofrio, referring to the latest fundraising event. “With the economy in such bad shape, we knew it would be a challenge to attract donations in the first place, so we decided to do something different and cast as wide a net as possible.”

The result is a fashion show, complete with a full dinner and entertainment, all provided by local residents and well-known people from the community, with donations and volunteers from across the community, including lots of local businesses.

“The clothes for the fashion show are being provided by Marshall’s of Saugus, which is sending a selection of fall fashions, and our models are all local people,” said D’Onofrio.

Among the local folks dedicating their time to serve as runway models are State Senator Anthony Petruccelli and his family, town councilors Joseph Ferrino and Linda Calla, Carla Vitale and her daughter, Sofia, Richard Honan, Stephanie Locke and her daughter, Alana, and Brittany Lauren-Lucas.

Ticketholders will also receive a chicken cordon bleu dinner and entertainment provided by another group of well-known performers, including Three Winthrop Tenors Richard Honan, Chuck Famolare and Bob Lucas, a duet performed by John and Trudy Macero of the Winthrop School of Performing Arts and song performances by Nancy Williams and Fire Chief Paul Flanagan and Betty Federico and D’Onofrio of the Ladies Lodge.

“I think for a summer event, we’ve dome very well so far, with over 100 tickets already sold and we’re still making the last-minute push to sell even more tickets,” said D’Onofrio, of the $35 tickets that can be purchased in advance from Ladies Lodge members of the Event Committee composed of D’Onofrio, Rose LoConte, Peggy Pacifico and Anne Todisco-McNiff.

D’Onofrio noted that many local merchants have supported the fundraiser by taking ads in the event program.

“We really have been very lucky with all of the support we’ve received, to get Senator Petruccelli and his family to donate their time, and the same goes for all of the other volunteer models and performers. It’s really going to be a lot of fun,” she said.