York Town News
"Go Red" raises awareness of heart disease in women with funky fashions
By Melissa Wood
Former Miss Maine and Mrs. Maine pageant winners were among those modeling new designs and selections from Macy's fall line as part of York's own Project: Redway, a brand new event to support the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign.
Photo by Tori Rasche
On Thursday night, Aug. 23, York was the fashion hot spot where original and hip designs, including red high-topped, high-heeled sneakers, made their mark on the runway.
Foster's Clambake was filled to its capacity of just over 400 people for Project: Redway, a fashion show fundraiser for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign.
The event raised more than $18,000 to support Go Red's goal of fighting heart disease in women.
Heart disease is the number one killer of women and the Go Red Foundation hopes to fight those statistics by raising awareness with both the public and physicians. The foundation also funds heart disease research targeted specifically for women. Previously, heart disease research focused solely on men.
"The signs for women are much different from those of men. However, all the studies are done for men," said Aaron J. Patton, one of the event's co-hosts.
Patton's mother-in-law suffered a heart attack, he said, adding her first sign of a heart attack was jaw pain - and she was unsure what it meant.
Women may not recognize their symptoms as signs of heart disease because of this gap in research.
According to Brenda Quinn of the American Heart Association, women may have certain symptoms but because of the lack of research and awareness, "You wouldn't necessarily know that's heart disease."
Thursday night's event was Go Red's first time on the runway.
"We've never done this before," said Quinn.
Denise Rubin, Go Red's 2006 chairperson, said the idea for the runway show came from Danie Connolly, the show's chairperson, who wanted to do "something funky so we can really bring awareness."
Rubin said she had her doubts about a fashion show in York.
"I said, 'It will never go in York County.' Thank you for proving me wrong," she told the tent filled with people waiting for the show to begin.
Project: Redway organizers sent letters to fashion designers and art and designs schools asking for original creations. Those designs shared the runway with Macy's fall collection as Macy's is a national sponsor of the Go Red For Women campaign.
"Designers from all over the country have sent in their designs," said Rubin.
The show began with Project: Redway's take on the cocktail dress, with red being the new black, of course.
Quinn said the red dress is a symbol of raising awareness to prevent heart disease in women.
The rest of the fashions ran the gamut from trendy back-to-school clothes for teens to slick suits appropriate for a corporate boardroom.
Former Miss Maine and Mrs. Maine pageant winners modeled the clothes on the runway. They were joined by members of the York community and special guests - including Little Orphan Annie, the Karate Kid and Larry the Lobster - made surprise appearances throughout the show.
Members of Maine's football team the Raging Bulls strutted onto the runway to the tune of "I'm Too Sexy," and were greeted with screams from the women in the audience.
Santa Claus walked out onto the runway while the models showed off holiday dresses. Santa tossed out gifts of red measuring tapes to the crowd.
The finale simulated a wedding, which began with a nervous groom followed by the wedding guests attired in an array of different fashions. They were finally joined by the bride wearing a red wedding gown, complete with red veil.
Project: Redway was hosted by Patton along with Kim Block of WGME-13 and Annie Snook of WPOR 101.9.
Hair and makeup for the models was provided by Paradiso salon and owner Kevin Tacy donated the use of Foster's Clambake for the runway show.
All proceeds from the show were donated to the American Heart Association.
Go Red for Women's goal is to raise $75,000 to support heart disease research and education specifically designed for women.
Go Red For Women's next event will be a luncheon at the Cliff House on Shore Road at the York and Ogunquit town line on Nov. 2.
To learn more, visit www.goredforwomen.org.
