Eighty-four make debut over two nights

By Pauline Morris
The event was held over two nights, on 1 and 8 August, after 10 weeks of dance training by Geraldine McGrath.
Girls in glamorous hairstyles and white dresses were partnered with dashing young men in black dinner suits with pale gold vests and shiny black shoes.
Each couple arrived in various shiny limousines and was met at the door of the Cardinia Cultural Centre by two Rotarians dressed in top hat and tails – Geoff Janssen and John Boon.
After gloves and buttonhole flowers were added to their already glamorous outfits, Darren Spargo and his team of photographers took their portraits, hopefully to be cherished in years to come.
Then the countdown started and so did the nerves, with lots of “can’t remember the dances or which way do we turn after this and that step”, overheard. Then Ms McGrath appeared and gave those final instructions and after some minor repairs to gowns and make-up stain removal by the magic hands of Alwyn Williams, calm was restored.
The cultural centre was decorated with gold and blue balloons and a large Rotary Wheel was projected onto the wall throughout the evening. Guests of 350 for the first ball and 300 for the second ball were shown to their seats by our Rotary and Inner Wheel hosts and hostesses.
At 7pm the presentation finally started. With the flower girls and page boys walking the red carpet first and presenting their flower baskets to the official party, each pair of debutantes were introduced by Ms McGrath and then made their way along the red carpet to curtsy and bow to District Governor, Brian and wife Kerry, President Tim Ahern and wife Jan and Past District Governor Ken McDonald and his wife Margaret. Each debutante and partner waited patiently for their turn, smiling nervously, until all the debs and partners had been presented.
A very big thankyou to the Rotarians and partners who have helped during the last 10 weeks of training, setting up and cleaning of the cultural centre, assisting with the debs and partners on the night and to those who were able to “hostess” on each of the Ball nights. And last but not least our flower girl, Adele Pridham, daughter of Rotarian Mandy Welch and Page boy, Tyler Clark, grandson of Rotarian Jim Armstrong. Both nights were a great success and once again the youth of our area have gained some lifelong experiences and social skills, due to the efforts achieved by the ball committee and members and partners of the Rotary Club of Pakenham.