Model Benefit for Sacred Heart Society
They called it the “Happiest Show on Earth” and nobody was happier than the Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart, beneficiaries of the Gentlemen’s Haberdashery fashion parade.
The fashion show that features the Who’s Who of Orange County instead of professional male models, attracted a crowd of 600 on Friday to the Irvine Hyatt Regency. The event raised more than $100,000 for the sisters, who operate the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in Santa Ana.
Magical Show
Thanks to the Disney Corp., the show had a magic castle on the stage where 83 of the county’s civic, community and business leaders marched down the runway. Some models were joined by Disney characters, including a flirtatious Minnie Mouse and a grumpy Donald Duck, who clearly did not enjoy sharing the spotlight with anyone.
Show organizers had no trouble recruiting the men to model, according to Anthony Moiso, master of ceremonies (who attended with his wife, Melinda--co-host of the show’s judges’ panel).
“A lot of guys want to be in it. They vie for a spot,” Moiso said. The men pay $150 each for the honor.
Men Take Their Turns
Emma Jane Riley, whose husband, Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, served as the show chairman, thought up the all-male fashion show 14 years ago. “At first we thought it would be hard to get them to model. But after we started, we discovered there’s a little ham in all of them,” she said.
The biggest hamburger of all: Msgr. Michael Harris of Santa Margarita High School, who traded his clerical collar for a basketball uniform he’d raided from the high school gym.
“If the gang at 11 a.m. Mass could see you now,” quipped Kitty Leslie, fashion show coordinator, who dressed the men in sports wear, suits and tuxedos from Fashion Island, Newport Beach.
Richard O’Neill wore an “authentic but somewhat dandified” black leather cowboy jacket, as Leslie described it. Zoltan Stacho, fresh from a trip to the South Pole, came down the runway in a parka carrying a snow-white Samoyed. Pat Kapp rode down the runway on a bicycle to show off a pair of purple bike shorts and his muscular legs.
Before the show, models joined the guests for a lavish lunch of Caesar salad, grilled salmon filet with a creamy basil pesto sauce, lemon angel hair pasta and a key lime tart with raspberry sauce.
Spiritual Home
Proceeds from the $100-per-person benefit will be used for the sisters’ retreat center for children and their families.
“We truly believe children’s greatest need is to know they are loved, to know they are precious,” said Sister Ida Peterfy, founder of the Sacred Heart society. “It’s a message they need to hear. They need a spiritual home to come to, where cultural and economic differences are left outside the door.”
Other show participants were Paul Salata, emcee, and committee member Bjorn Sedleniek. Models included: Gilbert Aguirre; Robert Bein and his son Steve; Jim Dale; Bill and Ben Harris; Thomas Malcolm; James McNamara with his son Jim; Ron Merriman with sons Todd and Brad; Len Miller with his sons Todd and Bryan; Rick Niemann with his son Michael, and Don Regan with sons Tim Regan, Dennis Regan, Matt Regan and Dan Peterka, and son-in-law David Thomas.
