Newtown Block Party And Fashion Show To 'Light The Night Pink'

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — A months-long fundraising campaign for breast cancer patients will culminate with a community block party on Thursday night, Oct. 12 in Newtown Borough.

Historic State Street between Washington and Centre Avenues will be closed to traffic for “The Light the Night Pink” event to be held from 6 to 9 p.m.

“The whole street will be lit up in pink,” said Gina-Maria Santoro, owner and operator of Giovanni’s Fine Fashion and Custom Tailoring who is organizing the fundraiser with Opus Elite owner, Mark Gatta. “This has been a community wide effort. We all just came together”

The special evening, organized by the Newtown business community, will include live music by Love Junk; a caricaturist; raffles; vendors; police, fire and first responders; and the Ardana Pizza Food Truck and the Newtown Ice House, both of which will be donating their profits to Main St.

“It’s going to be a really fun environment and a very entertaining night,” promises Santoro

Highlighting the evening will be the crowning of the first Mr. Bucks County during a fashion show beginning at 7 p.m. in front of Giovanni’s Fine Fashion and Custom Tailoring.

Giovanni’s Fine Fashion and Custom Tailoring on South State Street.

A dozen Bucks County residents have been vying for the title since August encouraging friends and family to vote for them by making a donation to Main St., a Bucks County non-profit that supports breast cancer patients.

“We have 12 amazing contestants,” said Santoro. “Each have been competing to see who can raise the most money for Main St.”

Voting will continue through Wednesday, October 11 at 11:59 a.m. at https://givebutter.com/MrBucksCounty

Each contestant was asked to raise at least $1,000 toward the cause. All of them far exceeded that goal, reported Santoro.

“We knew it was going to be higher than that but we had no idea the passion they were going to bring to this. This has just completely exceeded our expectations of what we thought we would do in our first year,” said Santoro.

The winner - the individual who raises the most money for breast cancer patients - will be crowned Mr. Bucks County during the block party. The total amount raised will also be revealed.

During the show, Santoro said the contestants will be modeling black tie tuxedos, all styled and provided by Giovanni Fine Fashion located on South State Street in Newtown.

“It’s going to be an amazing show,” said Santoro, noting that In addition to getting a crown, the winner will get a pink bow tie, bragging rights and a $250 shopping spree at Giovanni’s.

In addition, the 12 contestants are featured in a commemorative calendar that will be sold at the event for a donation of $20 each. The calendar is chock full of humorous photos of the contestants taken by Joe Dantone, a professional photographer with Dantone Creative.

“It’s amazing. Every picture is a piece of art,” said Santoro.

The contestants include: January: Joe Gatta, the head of a marketing company; February: Bernie Sauer, a local builder; March: Nick O’ Hay, the bar manager at the Green Parrot in Newtown; April: Ryan Flaville, the owner of Ryan Pub in Northeast Philadelphia; May: Newtown Borough Mayor John Burke; June: Newtown Borough Police Sgt. Sean Orr; July: Eric Poe, the owner of CURE Auto Insurance; August: Nick Fifis, the owner and chef at Erini Restaurant; September: Andy Smith, the executive director of the Newtown Theatre; October: Matt Arlen, of Ned’s Cigars; November: Chris Munz, owner of Munz Construction; and December: Newtown Borough attorney Andrew Neville.

“There’s a really good chance that one of the guys in this calendar is either a friend of yours or a friend of a friend," said Santoro. "But it doesn’t matter whether you know them or not. Just the fact that these guys put themselves out there in a very vulnerable position it should make people want to dig into their pockets and support them.”

One hundred percent of the proceeds from the Mr. Bucks County contest, the calendar sale, and the block party will benefit Main St. and breast cancer patients.