AROUND TOWN: Firemen and fashion come to the rescue

Women wearing stilettos can sprint. Yes, they can.

They're especially speedy when they're racing to the runway in the center of the ballroom to tuck money into the waistbands of Chippendales-worthy, shirtless local firefighters.

Five firefighter bachelors flexed, smiled and danced, encouraging donations to Dress for Success and the Women's Resource Agency. The fellows themselves were up for auction for evenings out that include flowers, dinner and a movie.

This girls' night out, the Feb. 27 Fashion to the Rescue drawing 300 to the Antlers Hilton, has become an annual tradition to support the agency that assists women going into the work force. Friends let their hair down, and hooted and hollered and cheered during the Dillard's fashion show and the firefighter fun. They camped it up as The Family Studio posed group shots of women with the fellows.

Yells were loud and crescendoed in a major way as bids were driven up for bachelors Bo Hutchinson, Paul Dipilla, Greg Lang, Trevor Leland and Scott Simmons.

Auctioneer Sam Rush-Walton laughed and observed to the crowd that when she was auctioning off a trip to Las Vegas and a stay in a Breckenridge condo "everyone here was all atwitter, not paying any attention. The firemen came out and you could hear a pin drop ... for a minute anyway."

Firefighters also strutted their stuff with volunteer models during the fashion show.

Wearing spring fashions were Ken Anderson, Jason McFerran, Steve Thime and Rich Valdez. They joined the bachelors on the runway with models Jenny Bender, Resileta Cooke, Jamie Drew, Meric Glover, A'Lisha Lee, Regina Lewis, Susan Miller, Carole Newhouse, Tammi Oakland, Regina Lewis and Michele Thompson.

The several male crowd members made the best of the evening. Dan Hardee of radio stations KKPK FM and KVOR AM said he had "a great time. It's not every day I get to be the gender minority where the girl-to-guy ratio is 50 to 1!"

Adding a tender touch to the otherwise raucous evening were Women's Resource Agency success stories Elizabeth LeBlanc and Varanese Pryor. LeBlanc said, "WRA has become to me a safe haven, my personal cheerleaders." Pryor, who had faced a series of personal trials and was trying to learn to be independent, went into the agency to donate some jewelry to Dress for Success and found women who have challenged her to make plans for her own community-based organization. Add to that: She's getting married in September. "We are all phenomenal women," she said to cheers.

Board members who helped put together the sold-out fundraiser included WRA Executive Director Beth Roalstad, board President Phyllis Ury, Patrick Butler, Crystal Colette, Shirley Colvard, Lindy Conter, Johanna Glover, Fashion to the Rescue chair Nadine Hensler, Gayle Krzemien, Terrie Cox Pauly, Liz Price and Natalie Washington.

• More photos from "Fashion to the Rescue" and the Steve Pope reception on gazette.com, photo galleries.

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Send information about nonprofit events and fundraisers to linda.navarro@gazette.com or mail to Linda Navarro, P.O. Box 1779, Colorado Springs, 80901.

SAVE THE DATES

Safe Passage 14th Annual Fundraising Gala, honoring Judge Barney Iuppa, April 24, Cheyenne Lodge at The Broadmoor, $125, 636-2460

The Gazette Golf Tournament, April 29, Cheyenne Shadows Golf Course on Fort Carson, to benefit Newspaper In Education in local schools, gazette.com/NIE/golf cqcq or 636-0191.

TESSA's 17th Annual Pasta in the Park, Aug. 15, Myron Stratton Home Campus, 785-6808