Annual Ball of Roses to be held June 2

The annual Ball of Roses will be held on Saturday, June 2 in the East Room of the Country Club of Birmingham. The presentation begins at 9 p.m. The Ball of Roses is sponsored by Carlton Posey Fountain, president of the Ballet Guild of Birmingham, and Executive Vice-President Ann Bailey Pritchard White.

The First Ball of Roses was held in August of 1961. Eleven 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. Since its inception, the Ballet Guild has raised more than $1 million for the Alabama Ballet.

This year, the Ball of Roses celebrates its 58th anniversary and continues to serve as a vital fundraiser for the Alabama Ballet. The Ball of Roses Chairman, Emory Richardson Ratliff, and Ball Co-Chairman Mackin McKinney Thompson have collaborated with Carole Sullivan of Lagniappe Designs on a dreamy palette of corals and pinks for the ball decor. The Men’s Committee Dinner chair, Frances Ellen Byrd Morris, has planned a formal seated dinner for donors prior to the presentation of this year’s 78 presentees.

Submitted by Alice Hawley Long.