16 presented at the Redstone Club’s annual ball

The Redstone Club’s 109th year annual Christmas Ball was Dec. 17 at the Country Club of Birmingham. More than 160 members of the Redstone Club and their guests attended the group’s annual Christmas celebration.

President of this year’s ball was James Henry Emack Jr., who attended with his wife, Kaye. Ball chairman was Richard Murray IV, who attended with his wife, Norita. The floor committee chairman was J. Murphy McMillan III, at the ball with his wife, Beth.

The East Room of the Country Club was decorated by Sybil Brooke Sylvester of Wildflower Designs to serve as a romantically elegant backdrop for the white-gowned debutantes.

This year’s presentation class included 16 young women, all college seniors, from a wide range of schools around the South, East Coast and Northeast. The women wore traditional long white dresses and gloves, a complement to their chosen escorts in black tuxedo tails.

Overseeing the class were Ladies Committee members Mrs. William B. Walheim Jr. (Cary), Mrs. Henry Claiborne Crommelin (Jane Houston) and Mrs. Arthur Key Foster, IV (Walton).

Those presented at the 2016 ball: Miss Margaret Russell Bromberg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hardy Bromberg III, sponsored by Mr. Frank Hardy Bromberg Jr.; Miss Sarah Elizabeth Colvin, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Charles Peyton Colvin, sponsored by Dr. Charles Henry Colvin III; Miss Laura Katherine Crum, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Eric Crum, sponsored by Judge James Hughes Hancock; Miss Mary Eleanor DeRamus, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sterling Lanier DeRamus, sponsored by Mr. William David Sellers Crommelin; Miss Marguerite MacRae Edmonds, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bryson Glass Edmonds, sponsored by Mr. Thomas Michael Goodrich; Miss Margaret Stabler Greene, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Keller Greene, sponsored by Mr. Philip Howard Boyd; Miss Carolyn Youmans Grenier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Beaulieu Grenier and Ms. Celeste Crowe Grenier; Miss Helen Thomas Hinds, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Martin Hinds, sponsored by Mr. William Lyle Hinds Jr.; Miss Patricia Elizabeth Livingston, daughter of Mr. James Archibald Livingston III and the late Mrs. Livingston, sponsored by Mr. Henry Sharpe Lynn Jr.; Miss Sydney McClure Newton, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Robins Jeffrey Newton, sponsored by Mr. Frederick Weyman Renneker III; Miss Ann Catherine Perry, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Payne Perry; Miss Margaret Louise Pritchard, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Camp Pritchard, sponsored by Mr. Maclin Ferdinand Smith III; Miss Lane Jennings Proctor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Wooten Proctor; Miss Philippa Bainbridge Straus, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Samuel Straus, sponsored by Mr. Frank Mims Bainbridge; Miss Claudia Overstreet Styslinger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Joseph Styslinger, sponsored by Mr. Lee Joseph Styslinger III; Miss Virginia Carol Wright, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Wright III, sponsored by Mr. Lee Joseph Styslinger III.

At the ball luncheon, held at the Mountain Brook Club on Dec. 16, the presentees were introduced to the club membership and received some background on the long history of the event and the club itself. Also remembered were the nine members of the 1966 presentee class, whose 50th anniversary was celebrated. 

The “golden girls” from that year: Ellen Terry Beaumont; Grace Lanier Brewer; Shelley Shook Gearhart (Mrs. Frank E. Lindstrom); Margaret Hipp (Mrs. Robert E. Morris); Sally Rainer Lamar (Mrs. William D. Jameson); Margaret Rushton Monaghan; Virginia Celeste Montgomery; Virginia Ellicot Simpson; Elizabeth Leath Stigler (Mrs. Neil A. Pearce); Paula Stringfellow; Mary Emily Thurlow; and Mary Woodward.

The ball followed a members-only cocktail party and dinner, spread between Birmingham Country Club’s East Room and dining rooms.

Music Chairman John R. Simpson arranged the evening's accompaniment. For the cocktail party and the presentation, the Sonny Harris Trio Band set the musical atmosphere. Following the presentation, Pure Party Band entertained the crowd and attracted more than just the debutantes and their young contemporaries to the dance floor. A testament to the band’s sway was the sighting of several club members and their wives still in the thick of the throng in the late hours.

The 2016 Redstone Club officers and board of governors members: James Henry Emack Jr., president; James Arthur Smith IV, vice president; Gregory Stockton Curran, secretary-treasurer; William B. Wahlheim Jr., traditions chairman; Francis Minor S. Ager; Nelson Straub Bean; Francis H. Crockard III; C. Duncan Hulsey II; William Spencer South; George Clinton Thompson; J. Reese Murray III, finance chairman; and James Mallory Dixon, camp chairman.  

– Submitted by John Cobbs.