by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
It was a show like no other.
The Jacksonville Women’s Council of Realtors Fashion Show began with calendar “girls” strutting down the runway. But, these “girls” were actually guys and their outfits were outrageous to say the least.
Twelve male members of the WCR modeled corresponding attire to the month they represented.
Glenn East, CEO of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors’ represented January; Joe Gufford of Pablo Beach Mortgage represented February, Tyrone Townsend of Coldwell Banker Commercial Realty represented March, Jeff Marks, attorney represented April, Dan Gutshall of SunTrust Mortgage represented May, Wally Conway of HomePro represented June, Andrew Bell of RELS Title represented July, André Boutte of Watson Realty represented August, David Wakefield of CTX Mortgage represented September, Paul Gruenther of Vanguard Realty/GMAC represented October, Jeff Stoneking of Florida Capital Bank Mortgage represented November and Richard Billings of Wachovia Mortgage represented December.
“The ‘Calendar Girl’ theme was originally an idea that came from the Destin chapter,” said Nikki Gullett of Title America and chair of the event. “Only, they had the men as part of their regular fashion show wearing women’s clothing from a department store.
“I wanted to build the whole show around the ‘Calendar Girl’ theme and I wanted them to appear separate from the fashion show. One day it occurred to me that there is a scene in the movie Grease II that is called ‘A girl for all seasons’.
“Things took off from there and it was more fun then I can put in words. I remember calling (WCR president) Audrey Lackie with the idea. She went out and rented the movie. She called me laughing in hysterics. The committee had the same reaction after I played it for them at our first meeting. The men were outstanding. They went for it!”
Gullett said it was an honor to chair the event.
“Everyone involved including the committee and the models put forth a tremendous amount of effort and support,” said Gullett. “We had the most awesome and fun team. We sold 371 tickets. It was a tremendous success, the responses have been unbelievable. Everyone says we made WCR history! It will certainly be a memory I will always treasure! I look forward to chairing it again next year.”
There was a real fashion show, too. Stein Mart provided the clothing and models included WCR members Amanda Dandy of Prudential Network Realty, Carol DeMarco of CNL Bank, Geri Groenert of Vanguard Realty/GMAC, Beverlyn Heyward of First Florida Credit Union, Judy Hicks of Re/Max Coastal Real Estate, Evelyn Hopkins of Title America, Selby Kaiser of The Legends of Real Estate, Dale Orr of Vystar Title Agency, Bonnie Siecker of Century 21 Dames Point Realty and Betty Turner of Watson Realty.