Debutante ball spotlights lucky 13

Pink roses were everywhere.

Pink roses and lovely young girls in white floor-length gowns came

together for a special Sunday evening at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort

in Newport Beach. It was a memorable rite of passage in the lives of

13 young women.

The 14th Debutante Ball of the Newport-Mesa Assistance League

attracted more than 250 parents and close friends in elegant black

tie and ball gowns. They shed a collective sentimental tear as the

debutantes -- escorted by their fathers, who were wearing traditional

white tie and tails -- transformed the ballroom into a fantasy land

from another time and another place.

Classy Marie-France Lefebvre served as co-chair of the evening.

Lefebvre has been involved with the Assistance League for many years,

and volunteered to chair the first Assistance League Ball in 1990.

Wearing a very tailored, sleek, shimmering, silver-gray gown,

Lefebvre joined co-chair Joanne Johnston -- president of the

Newport-Mesa Assistance League in 1995 -- and volunteer Jim Dale in

welcoming the appreciative crowd. Dale, a generous League supporter,

served as the evening’s master of ceremonies and presenter of the

young ladies.

The Club ballroom was divided down the middle with a musical stage

erected on one end and a trellised white structure, more than just a

gazebo, covered in pink roses at the other end of the cavernous room.

The ceremony began with the girls’ mothers entering the room on

the arms of the debutantes’ escorts. The fathers followed and formed

a line, waiting for their daughters to be presented.

As each young lady was introduced, she was escorted to the stage

by her father to be recognized. The fathers then escorted their

daughters onto the dance floor for the traditional debutante waltz.

Escorts politely tapped the dads on the shoulder to sweep the young

ladies away, part of an age-old tradition symbolizing the transition

from youth into young adulthood.

The Assistance League’s debutante program, like other community

deb programs, is based on creating a pattern of community service.

Each of the participating girls begins the path to the debutante

medallion by joining the service-oriented program in the ninth grade.

Throughout their high school careers, they serve in the Assistance

League’s Thrift Shop, and donate time to nonprofit organizations,

such as the Orangewood Children’s Home and Costa Mesa’s Some One

Cares Soup Kitchen. In addition, the young ladies are asked to assist

with various Assistance League events and fundraisers. They learn

etiquette and manners, are encouraged to excel in high school

academics and athletics, and most will attend college in the fall.

The Debutante Ball represents the culmination of more than 100

hours of service to the community for each young lady over the

four-year program.

The Assistance League of Newport-Mesa is in its 65th year as a

nonprofit volunteer service organization dedicated to meeting the

needs of local children. Assistance League programs include the Cheri

Harris Children’s Dental Health Center, Operation School Bell, Kids

on the Block and the Community Outreach Program.

The 2005 Debutants are Devon Ashley Ahearn, Kelly Jane Artz, Elyse

Kristina Avila, Kristy Lee Bibb, Madeline Noor Bozarth, Kristin

Michelle Collins, Rylee Lauren Dennis, Chelsea Kathleen Guibord,

Margaret Kathryn Nelson, Natalie Marie Shaw, Alexa Namiye Shitanishi,

Krista Marie Skellern and Tricia Kristen Treaccar.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.