Old Bags incites new excitement

Countless fundraisers are sponsored each year in the Spa City, one of the most highly anticipated being the Old Bags Luncheon.

The benefit luncheon was started by Eileen Cornacchia in Palm Beach about seven years ago, creating the event held at The Breakers Resort. She trademarked the name, so Old Bags fundraisers across the country are held throughout the year for various charities. The Jockey Club Foundation held its first Old Bags event in Saratoga at the Canfield Casino. The luncheon has increased in popularity with such velocity that it has continuously outgrown its venue. It has moved from the first event at the Canfield to the fourth annual luncheon held at the Dance Museum, and continues to attract an astounding, ever-expanding number of attendees.

This year, event chairs Anne Campbell and Margie Rotchford are hosting the sixth annual Old Bags luncheon on Aug. 3 at the lavish Gideon Putnam Resort and Spa. The fundraiser is dubbed Old Bags for the new and gently used vintage and designer handbags that are donated and auctioned off during cocktail hour. In addition to the array of beautiful bags, more than a dozen Saratoga stores are setting up tables and donating 15 percent of all proceeds.

After lunch is served, a fashion show will showcase the styles of each unique boutique, coordinated by Natalie Sillery of Saratoga Trunk. Simplicity Salon has magnanimously offered their services to help the models with hairstyling.

To bring the exhibition of latest fashion to brim, shoe designer Taryn Rose will say a few words as guest speaker. Taryn Rose is an orthopedic surgeon-turned fashion designer. She recognized the deplorable state in which stylish but strangling shoes left women’s feet, so she revolutionized the footwear industry to create “a line of luxury shoes that are as fashionable as they are functional…

They’re a balance of substance and style. Form and function. Comfort and couture.”

After being alerted to Rose’s designs by Cathy Lindberg, an Old Bags committee member, Rotchford instantly approached the eminent icon in hopes of recruiting her as guest speaker. Not only did Rose agree to speak, she donated a collection of shoes valued at $2,500 as well as an alligator clutch. A race named in Rose’s honor will be run the day of the benefit around 4 p.m. In addition to her participation in the Old Bags benefit, Rose will be collaborating with Natalie Sillery to present a trunk show Aug. 2 at Saratoga Trunk, located at 493 Broadway.

Georgette Mosbacher, president and CEO of Borghese Cosmetics and NYRA board member, donated several vintage handbags, $1,200 worth of skin care products and two autographed copies of her books “Feminine Force” and “It Takes Money Honey.”

Borghese Cosmetics is a renowned New York line dedicated to unleashing each woman’s unique beauty. Borghese respects “the synergy between health and nature, luxury and science,” and believes “beauty is not bound by age and that innovation should fuse the traditional and the avant-garde.” Raffle tickets for the Taryn Rose and Borghese packages will be sold during the luncheon.

One hundred percent of the Old Bags Luncheon proceeds go to benefit the backstretch workers of the Saratoga Track through the ministry of the Jockey Club Foundation and the Race Track Chaplaincy of America. Workers and their families that exhibit financial need, whether it is due to medical, dental or funerary circumstances, will receive aid from the fund throughout the year.

The Old Bags Luncheon is sure to be the most fabulous fundraiser of the summer.

Join friends in an amazing afternoon of charity with a flourish of fashion. Tickets are $150. For more information, contact Nancy Kelley at 226-0609 or by e-mail at nkelly@jockeyclub.com.