Joliet hospice to host annual fashion show Nov. 6

Enjoy an afternoon of fashion and food while supporting a Joliet nonprofit that provides serious illness care and hospice care as well as grief support for children and adults.

The Lightways Hospice Guild will host its 33rd “Puttin’ on the Glitz” fashion show and luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 6 at the Bolingbrook Golf Club, 2001 Rodeo Drive in Bolingbrook.

Local men and women model fashions from Chico’s of Orland Park, Dean’s Clothing of Naperville and It is Amazing of Joliet.

Event chairmen are Shirley Mullen and Patty Zimmerman. Proceeds benefit Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care in Joliet, formerly known as Joliet Area Community Hospice.

Now fashion shows are not as popular as in former days. But publicity chairman Joanne Ray feels they are even more relevant today since many people purchase most of their clothing online.

“So if you want to see new fashions, this might be the only way to see what your favorite stores are offering,” Ray said.

Fashion shows are also good for local business, she feels. Ray said she spoke with the store owners and they’re in favor of “anything that puts more foot traffic in our stores.”

“People just aren’t coming back to do in-person shopping,” Ray said. “I’m guilty of it myself; I do my shopping online. But you see one-dimensional when you see online. It’s a whole new dimension at a style show.”

Ray said a style show allows attendees to visualize themselves wearing an outfit they might not consider for themselves, especially since the models are people of all ages, all shapes.

“But when you see someone else wearing it – someone my age, my shape instead of seeing the ‘twig models’- at least you’re seeing someone from the community that you know, some one who might look like me, who is my age.”

Although “Puttin’ on the Glitz” won’t feature children’s fashions this year, children are still welcome to attend, Ray said.

“It allows kids to come and see and dream a little bit about being a model up on that runway,” Ray said.

Attendees will also be introduced to It’s Amazing of Joliet, which is “an amazing store,” Ray said.

“It’s an independent boutique, so you’re not going to be walking down the street in the same thing as everyone else,” Ray said.

Ray said her father Al Ray was one of the seven founders of Joliet Area Hospice in 1982 and her mother Kay Ray is one of “only two or three surviving individuals that founded the guild.”

Two of hospice’s original founding members – Dr. Clarice Boswell and Rev. Jim Wilson – are planning to attend the fashion show and luncheon, Joanne Ray said.

Joanne Ray said she personally experienced the good Lightways does in 2002 when her good friend the Rev. Barb Donica died.

And that, ultimately, is the reason why the community should support this year’s fashion show and luncheon.

“You can’t find anybody in the area that hasn’t been touched in some way shape or form by serious illness and, at some point, requires hospice,” Joanne Ray said.

Tickets for the 33rd “Puttin’ on the Glitz” fashion show and luncheon cost $65 each. Reservation deadline is Oct. 18.

Those who can’t attend may donate, sponsor or purchase 50/50 raffle tickets via the website below.

To purchase tickets and for information, call 815-740-4104 or by visit lightways.org/2022fashionshow.