Junior Women's League holds annual event
Champagne luncheon raises money, spirits of youthBy BOB COUPLAND Tribune Chronicle
NILES - With the theme ''Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow'' - which was evident outside - the nearly 540 women who attended the annual Warren Junior Women's League champagne luncheon Friday at McMenamy's Banquet Center stayed warm while viewing the latest winter clothing fashions.
The fashion show has generated $425,000 over the past 39 years for the Children's Rehabilitation Center in Howland.
Julie Vugrinovich with the WJWL said the event is the biggest holiday fundraiser the organization holds each year in addition to a golf outing in the summer with proceeds from that event benefiting the Trumbull County Children Services.
''This event has grown each year with more and more women attending,'' she said.
She said there were more than 160 door prizes and centerpiece raffles along with other surprises.
Bob Foster, executive director of the rehab center, said the money donated by the WJWL to the center has helped pay for services, equipment and programs for families who otherwise would not have been able to receive them.
The WJWL also contributed toward three major capital improvement projects at the center in 1969, 1982 and in 2003, which included an expansion and addition, he said.
''What they have contributed has made much of what we have at the center and offer to the children possible,'' Foster said.
Children who attend the center modeled winter outfits at Friday's show. Nine-year old Zoe Berk of Howland was excited when she learned she could keep the clothes she was modeling.
''I liked waving and blowing kisses,'' Berk said when standing on the modeling platform.
Vugrinovich said the children's clothing was donated by David Stockwell of Dillards for each child to keep.
The fashion show featured holidays clothes from Dillards and Coldwater Creek, both located in the Eastwood Mall, which were modeled by local television personalities. In addition, many area men volunteered their time helping to pour the champagne and to help serve the meals.
