Alyssa Lowe models for the Little Black Dress Fashion Show

WARSAW —Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts and Goodwill hosted their second Little Black Dress Fashion Show at the Wagon Wheel Thursday evening.

Proceeds from the event go towards Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts and Goodwill to benefit educational and job placement programs.

Debbie Coble, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries, was present at the event as was Wagon Wheel Center of the Arts interim director Holly Lantz.

“The Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts is much more than just a theater,” boasted Lantz. “We have a variety of programs … our biggest and proudest is probably our educational programs.” One of those programs is the junior program which is comprised of students from 8th to 12th grade. Students put on a musical within two weeks and learn various aspects of theatre and the arts.

Cable spoke on the services Goodwill provides to a community. “Our mission is to strengthen communities, by empowering individuals and families through education and training and job placement.”

“We’ve been part of this community for 20 years,” stated Coble. The new Goodwill building on Anchorage Point Drive features a career center that provides job placement and education services for the Warsaw community.

Goodwill recently opened an excel program in northern Indiana. The program assists Indiana residents over the age of 18 with getting their high school diploma. It is Goodwill’s goal that all of their graduates graduate with either dual-credit or a certificate for trade skills needed in their community to ensure success. In the year the program has been open, they currently have 260 people enrolled and seven students graduated this past summer in their first graduation.

The Little Black Dress Fashion Show started with a boutique by Goodwill held in Wyndham Garden. There was a plethora of trendy and fashionable clothing and accessories for sale. The boutique was open before the fashion show and re-opened after the show completed.

Kathy Friend, nationally known as a stylist and image consultant and President of the Style and Image Institute, hosted the program and styled the models. She was joined by emcee Suzanne Spencer, WSBT-TV reporter.

Models from the Warsaw community then walked the runway in clothing from Goodwill to showcase the latest fashion trends. Pieces worn were available in the boutique for 50 percent off after the show. Celebrity models included Matt Rudkin, WSBT-TV Meteorologist, and Teri Armstrong, Willie 103.5’s news director and morning co-host. Warsaw Schools Superintendent Dr. David Hoffert and Mayor Joe Thallemer also joined the runway.