Poinsettia Debutantes announced at party

The 2017 Poinsettia Ball Debutantes were introduced by the Poinsettia Men’s Club at an afternoon reception at the beginning of summer.

The presentation was held at the Hoover-Randle Home and Gardens and officially kicked off the debutante season.

It was one of several parties that will be held for this group of young women before they are presented at the 50th Annual Poinsettia Debutante Ball on Dec. 28 at Vestavia Hills Country Club. President Jay Dennis introduced each debutante to the group while giving the names of their parents and information on where the debutantes attend school.

The 2017 Poinsettia Debutantes are Caroline Adams, Ellen Berryhill, Rachel Brooks, Madison Brown, Morgan Brown, Kate Bryan, Chase Burton, Bonnie DeCarlo, Haley Dellaccio, Abbey Donze, Cammie Green, Olivia Hall, Claire Hand, Amelia Haston, Bailey Hymer, Jordan Moore, Lowrey Patterson, Wynne Pietrantoni, Ashleigh Pugh, Bennett Searcy, Kate Speyer, Morgan Stockard, Anna Lea Strickland, Elizabeth Summers, Lauren Thackerson, Ann Thomas, Brooke Westhoven, Emma Wiley, Katelyn Wright and Hannah Yarmowich.

The Poinsettia Debutante Ball was established in 1968 at the proposal of Mrs. John W. Gustafson. The Birmingham Ballet board of trustees gave its enthusiastic approval. In 1981, The Alabama Ballet was established as an outgrowth of the Birmingham Civic Ballet, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Ballet and Ballet Alabama. Gustafson and Mrs. Louis A. Prosch Jr. served as the first ball chairmen. All proceeds from the ball support the Alabama Ballet.

In keeping with tradition, each debutante will be presented in a winter setting of greenery and red poinsettias come this December.

-Submitted by the Ballet Women’s Committee