14 • Thursday, January 14, 2016
social
Tradition in Lights
OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal
Photo special to the Journal by Dee Moore
23 Women Presented at Redstone Club’s Annual Ball
From left: Emily Fallon Wilson, Eulalie Crommelin Draper Given, Adelaide Harling King, Kathryn Ann Simpson and Mary Ann Stevenson.
Mary Nobles Hancock, Margaret Munger McCall Pope, Helen Cumbee Corey, Mary Virginia Grisham and Anne Fairly Alison.
Virginia Gilder Smith, Catherine Shepard Smith, Ann Douglas Logan and Mary Elizabeth Hobbs.
Grace Dunlap Murray, Mary Clayton Whitlock Shearer, Florence Evans Poynor, Caroline Nabers Gray and Virginia Hagood Drennen.
T
he Redstone Club’s 108th annual Christmas Ball was held Dec. 19 at the Country Club of Birmingham. More than 800 members of the Redstone Club and their guests attended the group’s annual holiday celebration. President of this year’s ball was Francis Minor S. Ager, who attended with his wife, Amy. Ball chairman was Nelson S. Bean, who attended with his wife, Kimberly. The floor committee chairman was J. Murphy McMillan III, with his wife, Beth. The East Room was decorated by Sybil Brooke Sylvester of Wildflower Designs to be reminiscent of a Victorian-era Christmas. Strings and loops of garlands and lights were strung above the ballroom, with accents of white flowers and twinkling lights throughout the room.
From left: Nelson and Kimberly Bean and Francis Minor S. Ager, and wife Amy.
This year’s presentation class included 23 young women, all college seniors, from a wide range of schools across the South, East Coast and Northeast. The presentees 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. Wahlheim Jr. (Cary); Mrs. Henry Claiborne Crommelin (Jane Huston); and Mrs. John Parker Evans II (Jennifer). Those presented at the 2015 ball were: Anne Fairly Alison, daughter of Mr. James Fairly Alison III and Mrs. Susan Emack Alison; Helen Cumbee Corey, daughter of Mr. Allen Rushton Corey and Mrs. Kathryn Wilson Corey; Virginia Hagood Drennen, daughter of Richard Hagood Drennen and Mrs. Helen McTyeire Drennen; Eulalie Crommelin Draper Given, daughter of Mr. Robert Sommerville Wilkerson Given and Mrs. Eulalie Crommelin Draper Given; Mary Virginia Grisham, daughter of Mr. James Ernest Grisham III and Mrs. Kay Parnell Grisham; Mary Nobles Hancock, daughter of Mr. James Hughes Hancock Jr. and Mrs. Leigh Hardin Hancock; Adelaide Harling King, daughter of Mr. Mark Steven King and Mrs. Margaret McWhorter King; Grace Dunlap Murray, daughter of Mr. Richard Murray IV and Mrs. Nora Riegle Murray; Mary Clayton Whitlock Shearer, daughter of Dr. John Carl Shearer and Mrs. Cynthia Rogers Shearer; Catherine Shepard Smith, daughter of Mr. Clinton Hill Smith and Mrs. Helen Catherine Smith; Virginia Gilder Smith, daughter of Mr. David Michael Smith and Mrs. Virginia Carruthers Smith; Emily Fallon Wilson, daughter of Dr. Thomas Alexander
Elizabeth Lee Miller, Emilia Noailles DeLara Cobbs, Sarah Cameron Styslinger and Grace Evelyn Ainsworth Hawkins.
Symington Wilson Jr. and Mrs. Lynn Fallon Wilson; Emilia Noailles DeLara Cobbs, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Westcott Cobbs Jr. and sponsored by Mr. James S. M. French; Caroline Nabers Gray, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Eugene Gray and sponsored by Mr. Lee McGriff III; Grace Evelyn Ainsworth Hawkins, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Dale Hawkins III and sponsored by Mr. John N. Corey III; Mary Elizabeth Hobbs, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Whitehead Hobbs and sponsored by Mr. Ehney Addison Camp III; Ann Douglas Logan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Christopher Logan and sponsored by Mr. William Oliver Vann; Elizabeth Lee Miller, Daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Mark Lyle Miller and sponsored by Mr. Joseph McConnell Farley Jr.; Margaret Munger McCall Pope, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lee McWhorter Pope and sponsored by Mr. Hobart Amory McWhorter Jr.; Florence Evans Poynor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer Smith Poynor IV and sponsored by Mr. John Rembert Simpson; Kathryn Ann Simpson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Clark Simpson and spon-
sored by Mr. Paul Porter Crockard; Mary Ann Stevenson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Avery Stevenson III and sponsored by Mr. Robert Holman Head; and Sarah Cameron Styslinger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jon Cecil Styslinger and sponsored by Mr. Lee Joseph Styslinger III. Before the event, a ball luncheon was held at the Mountain Brook Club Dec. 18, during which the presentees were introduced to the club membership and received historical background on the event and the club. The luncheon included a reintroduction of the 1965 presentee class, of which 10 of the 19 women were in attendance. Mrs. Wyatt R. Haskell (Susan), a member of that class, was the 1965 presentee chairman. The presentees of 1965 were: Mrs. Sarah Beaumont Turley, Mrs. Samuel W. Pipes IV, Ms. Grace Louise Comer, Mrs. James B. Knight, Mrs. Dennis W. Cross, Mrs. George E. Taylor Jr., Mrs. Geneva Houck Clymor, Mrs. Jeffrey S. Sawtelle, Ms. Julia Valentine Joslyn, Ms. Pamela Noyes Kaul, Mrs. Roberta Laban See r edstone, facing page