Fashion Unmasked

The Marco Island Woman’s Club ventured off the island on Monday. A capacity crowd crossed the Jolley Bridge and filled the dining room at Naples Lakes Country Club to overflowing for the annual Marco Island Woman’s Club (MIWC) fashion show.  

With Mardi Gras just around the corner later in the week, the theme for the show and accompanying luncheon was a Mardi Gras Masquerade. Each lady in attendance was furnished with a feathered mask and colorful beads, among other swag, and lunch featured a very Creole menu of shrimp and grits with andouille sausage, cheese infusion and lemon butter sauce, followed by a dessert of Bananas Foster.  

Naples Lakes CC has become the go-to venue for the MIWC fashion event, said woman’s club president Maureen Chodaba, and they know they can count on the country club for excellent food and service.  

But the lunch itself was secondary to the main focuses of the luncheon – the fashions and the prizes. Event co-chairs Debbie Rosen and Christina Wergiles kept things moving, closed the silent auction on time, and shepherded the 11 models through their turns on the “catwalk.”  

Rosen then took over as emcee, announcing the model’s outfit, with each displaying three different looks. Fashions were provided by Patchington, Kay’s on the Beach, Pink Hibiscus, and the home team, Naples Lakes Country Club Pro Shop. The models were Margaret Zurschmit, Wendy Nowlan, Caitlin Robinson, Carol Ann Anzalone, Linda Ann Ventura, Christine Merrill, Anne Marchetti, Joyce Frame, Bonnie Calvin, Debbie Silvestri, and Cyndi Bixler.  

In addition to the 11 silent auction items, the ladies bought raffle tickets for 52 prize baskets, each with a value over $200. Cookie Bergen won three of the baskets and attributed her streak to the lucky hat she was wearing – although the numerous sheets of tickets she purchased might also have entered into her luck.  

The oldest women’s group on Marco Island, MIWC, was founded by a group of 16 ladies and has grown to a membership of over 150. Funds raised at the Mardi Gras Masquerade will be given back to the community through scholarships and donations to charitable causes on the island through the MIWC Charitable Foundation. Over the years, MIWC has given over $700,000 to Marco Island students. A long list of individuals, businesses, and professionals who donated to the event were thanked in the fashion show program.  

The club has a motto, expressed as a rhyming couplet: 

Why you were born, and why you are living, depends on what you are getting out of this world, and what you are giving.”  

MIWC will host a shopping event at J. McLaughlin, 1017 N. Collier Blvd., Marco Island, on March 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day. A percentage of sales from the event will be donated to the Marco Island Woman’s Club Charitable Foundation.  

The annual MIWC Cards and Games Luncheon will be held Thursday, March 13,at CJ’s on the Bay, chaired by Debbie Barmeier and Arleen Soldano. For more information, go online to www.marcowomansclub.com.