56th annual Ball of Roses on June 4

The annual Ball of Roses will be Saturday, June 4, in the East Room of the Country Club of Birmingham. The presentation begins at 9 p.m. 

The Ball of Roses is sponsored by Miller Beale Girvin, president of the Ballet Guild of Birmingham, and Executive Vice President Ashley Andrews Jackson. 

The first Ball of Roses was in August 1961, when 11 young women from Birmingham were presented. Each year, the ball is sponsored by the Ballet Guild of Birmingham, which is an invitational organization of young women dedicated to supporting the ballet in Birmingham through fundraising and volunteer work. 

Founded in 1959, the Ballet Guild was organized to promote and foster development of ballet in Birmingham in addition to raising funds for its support. The Ballet Guild has raised more than $1 million for the Alabama Ballet since its inception. 

This year, the Ball of Roses celebrates its 56th anniversary and continues to serve as a vital fundraiser for the Alabama Ballet. 

Ball of Roses chairman Mary Cox Brown and co-chairman Beverly Long Crawford have collaborated with Carole Sullivan of Lagniappe Designs on a whimsical palette of coral, pink and green for the ball decor. The Men’s Committee Dinner chair, Emory Richardson Ratliff, has planned a formal seated dinner for donors prior to the presentation of this year’s 68 participants.

– Submitted by Rebecca Wise.