Dining and dancing at the 16th Annual Grand Ball

Eli Murray and William Stubbs

Do you know why the dessert fork is at the top of the plate with the tines pointed left? Do you know what a finger bowl is? The graduates of Greater Columbia Junior Cotillion sure do.

Under the able tutelage of Jan Cohn, the boys and girls of the class have become the ladies and gentlemen of tomorrow. This transition was celebrated at the 16th Annual Grand Ball hosted at the downtown Marriot in Columbia on the evening of Sunday March 21.

The young people and their chaperones dined on Sicilian Minestrone Soup, Tuscan Fruit Salad, Danish Raspberry Sorbet, Italian Chicken Parmesan with bowtie pasta and French green beans, and Swiss Lemon Layer Cake. The night’s chaperones were Mark and Dianna Osborne, Kathleen Warthen, Bentley Coffey, Jane and Robert Key, Roxanne and Jere Loggins, Anne Bauknight, Janna McMahan, Melanie Andreen, Brenna DeLaine, Suzanne O’Dell, Linda and Jimmy Long, Kami and Jeff Thordahl, and Paula and Tom Kurt.

Once dinner was over, the ladies and gentlemen demonstrated their considerable skill with the shag, the foxtrot, and the electric slide. The night was also special because it was also Bailey Hanes’s 13th birthday. Those assembled delivered a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday and later in the night John Ingwersen treated the whole crowd to an amazing performance of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” in honor of Bailey’s birthday.

Halle Scaturo and Evan Owen

Aside from fun memories, the children take away valuable skills. This is perhaps best summed up by Senior Assistant Jeanne Marie Skipper who said, “I use the skills I learned at Cotillion every day. It helps me with my job when I meet people I do not know. I have been complimented multiple times on my manners.” It is obvious that participation in Junior Cotillion teaches today’s youth important life and social skills, which will serve them well in the future.