Members of a guild that raised money to open the only hospital on Whidbey Island are still fundraising to improve health care for residents.

The Polly Harpole Guild hosted its annual luncheon fashion show for the first time since 2019 on Thursday. The purpose of the event is to showcase the wares sold in WhidbeyHealth’s gift shop, a fundraising source for the hospital. Many members of the guild volunteer in the shop.

Most of the models at the event were members of the guild. They were happy to strut around the Whidbey Island Golf Club, showing off the latest summer styles.

This year, money from the fashion show will go towards purchasing two new ambulances for WhidbeyHealth, an announcement that was met with applause and cheers. About 100 women were in attendance. The guild currently has 31 members, President Patty Cohick said.

The Polly Harpole Guild has a long history of giving back to the community. It was started by nine Oak Harbor women in 1957 and became the parent guild for 20 others. The guilds worked for 13 years to help open a hospital on the island. The Polly Harpole Guild raised money to furnish and equip the hospital when it opened in 1970.

The guild is named after Polly Harpole, the island’s first official public health nurse. Polly Harpole lived on Whidbey Island from 1934 until her death in 1962. At the time, there was no hospital on the island. Harpole provided maternity care at the Harpole Maternity Home in Coupeville from 1936 to 1962. She ushered in an estimated 3,000 lives during that time, said guild member Helen Taylor.

Taylor, who recently retired as the executive director of the WhidbeyHealth foundation, bought and renovated the former maternity home. She noticed the deteriorating house in her neighborhood on the corner of Fourth Street and Haller Street. She contacted the owners who wanted to sell but were concerned it would be torn down.

“Believe me, as I got further and further into the project, I realized it would have been the sane way to go,” Taylor said. “But we would have lost the history and I really didn’t want that to happen.”

Remodeling the maternity home and raising money for WhidbeyHealth are both parts of an effort to keep the legacy and mission of Polly Harpole alive. Along with the ambulance fund, the guild regularly raises money for the hospital.

“We are a 501c organization so everything, all the money we raise, goes right back to WhidbeyHealth in two specific ways,” explained Arlene Johnson, event chairperson for the guild.

Members raise money for a hospital “wish list” to supply items that are not covered in WhidbeyHealth’s budget. The guild also gives two $1,200 scholarships every year to students who are residents of Whidbey Island, attend Skagit Valley College and study in a health care field.

Photo by Rachel Rosen/Whidbey News-Times Margot Bottolfson models in the Polly Harpole Guild’s Luncheon Fashion Show.

Photo by Rachel Rosen/Whidbey News-Times Peggy Whitford models a purse in a fashion show that raised money to purchase ambulances for WhidbeyHealth.