By Blair Meadowcroft

In an effort to support a good cause, Wagsworth Manor Pet Resort has teamed with breastcancer.org to present a Fashion Show and Benefit Thursday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m. The night will consist of a presentation by guest speaker Marisa Weiss, president and founder of breastcancer.org, as well as a fashion show for both models and dogs, refreshments, a raffle and boutique shopping. Ticket sales, along with 15 percent of vendor sales, will go to supporting breastcancer.org, which is based out of Ardmore.

While Wagsworth has hosted events in the past to benefit cancer organizations, this will be the first dedicated to breast cancer.

"We work closely with Bark for Life, which benefits the American Cancer Society, and we have done events such as a training competition and photos with Santa, from which donations and proceeds went to benefiting organizations," said Deedee Francis, who owns Wagsworth along with her husband, Brad.

Francis herself is a cancer survivor, and according to Karen Patrick of Wagsworth she is very involved with cancer fund-raisers.

"Dr. Marisa Weiss approached me and asked if there was anything we could do to help," said Francis. "We thought having an event here at Wagsworth could be something that hadn't been done before. This will be a fun ladies' night out, and we're hoping, if successful, to make this an annual event. Weiss will speak at the event and will most likely discuss the latest developments in breast-cancer research. She has written a couple of books and will have those with her to sign copies."

The vendors for this event are from local, female-owned boutiques, and will be selling everything from accessories and jewelry to clothing. Additionally Polka Dots in Paoli as well as the Worth Collection will be providing the clothing for the fashion show. There will be a runway set up in the lobby of Wagsworth for the fashion show itself and vendors' tables will be set up throughout the facility.

"It was easy to link up with all of the vendors involved as they have either worked with us or breastcancer.org before or simply wanted to be involved," said Francis. "The food will be provided by Sages Catering in Berwyn, and Prestige Salon in Wayne will be doing the models' hair for the fashion show."

The dogs who will be participating in the fashion show will be wearing clothing as well, to be provided by Wagsworth.

"Some of the dogs in the fashion show will be rescue dogs, and we're hoping the event will get the word out about them and perhaps even get them adopted," said Francis. "Maybe we can find these rescue dogs a home."

According to Francis there has been a lot of interest surrounding the event, and both the businesses involved and the guests planning to attend are looking forward to it.

"People are excited for this event because it's different and everyone is happy to be involved," said Francis. "We're hoping it is both successful and fun, and are hoping for around 150 guests."

The suggested donation for the Feb. 4 Fashion Show and Benefit event at Wagsworth Manor is $50. For more information and to buy tickets visit www.wagsworthmanor.com and breastcancer.org.