On January 17, 2009, Southbury Faith In Action (Formerly Southbury Interfaith Social Concerns Committee) conducted a "Dress For Less" fashion show in support of the Southbury Fuel Bank and the Southbury Food Bank. Fashions were provided by the Southbury Community Thrift Shop in Bennett Square, The Upper Room at Epiphany Church, and the Southbury Training School Thrift Shop. Models were all volunteers, members of the various faith communities in town. The show was held at the United Church of Christ on Main Street North, and drew a standing room crowd.

The poster gives all the important information. With a long, cold winter still to go, any help for the Fuel Bank and Food Bank is appreciated.

Be Prepared! That's not just for the Boy Scouts. Raffle tickets are sold for a wide collection of door prizes. Better to have the tickets at the ready for when the crowd arrives.

This is the wide ranging collection of door prizes. Just buy a ticket (Or better yet, buy a lot of tickets) and put a ticket in the bucket near the prize that has caught your eye. Then, at the end of the day, there is a drawing to determine the winner of each prize. And all money goes to the Southbury Fuel bank. But this picture was before people started to arrive.

And this is just as they start coming in the door. Nothing like a good selection to draw people's interest.

The Fashion Show itself was held in the sanctuary of the United Church of Christ. Dorrie did the commentary on each group of clothing, including which thrift shop offered them. Models were from all walks of life, as here Rev. Pitman, pastor of UCC, shows off some dashing men's wear.

Of course, there are those times when the model may be a bit on the shy side, and requires some support from grandpa. Here Scott walks the runway with grandaughter.

But sometimes, as they get older, the shyness goes away, and is replaced by a willingness to do whatever it takes to help those in need.

Perhaps Rev. Pitman felt that his original calling was the way to go, and the idea of being a world famous, incredibly wealthy model just didn't seem that appealing. He spent some time in the choir loft enjoying the show with everyone else.

Among those watching was this fairly high tech photo couple, getting all the best shots.

The layered look is always popular, especially with the younger set.

Lauren, chair of SoFIA, shows a classic look.

UCC and Sacred Heart share many things, including both newly purchasing an organ from the same company. UCC has the advantage, however, since they have already taken delivery of their's, and Sacred Heart expects to have their's sometine in February, 2009.

Let's see...must be pastor Scott Nessel of St. James Lutheran Church trying out his hat to see if he can better that red one on Dorrie.

Styles ranged from casual, to a little more fancy, ready for a night out.

To the very fancy, ready for the ball, gown.

At the end, all the models came out for a well deserved round of applause from an appreciative crowd. Then, on to the social hall for some refreshments, and, of course, the raffle drawings.

All help in setting up the refreshments is appreciated. I wouldn't have the will power to resist all those home made goodies.

All the fashions in the show were available in the social hall for purchase. All good buys.

Let the drawing begin. Everyone have a ticket? The winner is...

We have a winner!!! Of course, in this type of situation, everyone wins. Especially those in our town who find themselves in need during these difficult times, and know their neighbors will be there to help.

A couple of interested observers of the passing scene. Without them, without all those who went out of their way to make this a success, none of this would have been possible. And without the hundreds of people who attended, the Fuel and Food Banks in town would be that much poorer.