Connell Branan, Bebe MacKellar and Jim Vallion talk about the 2009 Beaux Arts Ball.

BEAUX ARTS BALL

Beaux Arts Ball debutantes, escorts and committee members met June 25th at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for a party.

Since it was so hot on the roof terrace at 6 p.m., the chairmen moved the first part of the event indoors. Committee chairmen presented a check to the Museum for the Acquisition Fund.

The group then toured the new exhibit “Turner to Cezanne:Masterpieces from the Davies Collection, National Museum Wales.”  Then they headed for the rooftop where live music was playing and the temperatures were cooling down.

Connell Branan is chairman of the Beaux Arts Ball which is November 28 at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. Bebe MacKellar is co-chairman.

Connell Branan and Libby Denner were at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. (Photos by Helen Ford Wallace).

Bebe and Bruce MacKellar arrive at the party.

Whitney Cross and Harper and Margo Ward cool off before going up to the penthouse level.

Lee Murphy and Connell Branan talk at the party.

GUESTS ENJOY YARD PARTY

The hosts: Jeffrey Semtner, Matthew Rooney, Towns Holmboe,
Christina Ellis, Jacob Archer and George Mason. (Photos provided).

Steve Mason, Sandy Ellis, Connell and Cliff Branan were at the event.

Beaux Arts Ball Debutantes, Escorts and their parents had a party in the
home of Kym and Steve Mason recently.

It was hosted by their son, George Mason, and Matthew Rooney, Christina
Ellis, Towns Holmboe, Jeffrey Semtner and Jacob Archer.

The group played yard games of croquet, badminton, bocci ball,the ladder
game and ping pong. Croquet was set up in the front yard.

The parents of the debs and escorts socialized while court members got
to know each other. Mini- tacos, quesadillas and macaroni and cheese
balls were passed. A sundae bar was set up for dessert.

Guests were invited to the party with a yard sign invitation which
the hosts delivered to their front yard.

The Beaux Arts Ball is in November and Connell Branan is chairman.

Kym Mason and Elaine Archer enjoy the event.

BEAUX ARTS BALL

Yard sign party invitation. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

Guests invited to one of the Beaux Arts Ball summer parties received their invitation via colorful yard signs.

Hosts are having a yard party for debutantes, escorts and their parents. They are Matthew Rooney, Christina Ellis, Towns Holmboe, Jeffrey Semtner, George Mason and Jacob Archer.

One of the parents, Joanie Holmboe, thought up using the   Yarddawgz theme and  Kym Mason knows  croquet rules, so they started there. The group gathered at Kite Park for pictures in their “whites.”  Another mother, Elaine Archer, took photos and Gayle Semtner worked with the artist for the clever yard sign.

Semtner said that “the invitations were put in place the night before the 70 mile an hour winds, so we are not exactly sure they stayed in place, but we are optimistic.”

The group will play croquet, badminton, bocci ball and ping pong.

After a round of parties, the Beaux Arts Ball is scheduled for Novemer 28 at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. Connell Branan is chairman and Bebe MacKellar is co-chairman.

THE 2008 KING’S DINNER

Morton and Libby Payne welcome Millie and Johnson Hightower  to their party. (Photo by David Faytinger).

Libby and Morton Payne were hosts for an elegant dinner recently at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.

The King’s Dinner was given by the Paynes as Morton Payne was selected as the 2008 King of the Beaux Arts Ball, the annual party honoring Beaux Arts Ball debutantes and escorts. They invited the debs, escorts, committee members, former kings and family members and friends. 230 people were there.

The Brent Van Sickle Party Orchestra played.

Libby Payne wore a beautiful black dress with ruffled sleeves and skirt.

Table centerpieces were glittering red roses, red and yellow orchids, artichokes, berries, pomegranates and apples. Tables had gold cloths and chairs were draped in gold fabric.

Among the guests were Carolyn Berry, Kaye and Ed Cook, Mary and Phil Truss, Martha and Ron Bradshaw, Lela and Mark Sullivan, Jim Vallion, Susan Parker, Drew Neville, Connell and Cliff Branan, Bette and Jim MacKellar, Bebe and Bruce MacKellar, Lauren and Andy Sullivan, Lisa and Mark Pierce, Susan and Peter Hoffman, Kathy and Russ Walker, Betsy Daugherty, Janell Everest, Joe Rumsey, Nick Berry,  Mary Payne Moran, Polly and Larry Nichols, Christy and Jim Everest, Shirley and Pete Everest, Linda Rosser, Jack Roberts and Susan and Mike McPherson.

Ball escorts Stephen Sanger, Kirk Miller, Alex Swisher, Patrick Nesbitt were at the King’s Dinner. (Photo by David Faytinger).

Phil and Mary Truss enjoy the party. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

Kathy Walker and Betsy Daugherty talk at the party. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

Barbara Beeler and Marty Margo toast the new Beaux Arts Ball King. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

At the party were Mark and Lela Sullivan and Jim Vallion, standing. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace)

Alex Stapleton, Leigh McCoy and Francie Love talk before they are presented at the Beaux Arts Ball. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

OU-OSU fans headed for the television set up in the Terrace Bar at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. They watched the football game until time for dinner the debutante presentation.(Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

The Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club was filled with people Saturday for the 2008 Beaux Arts Ball presentation of the King, Debutantes and Escorts.

Community leader Morton Payne was selected as the 63rd Beaux Arts Ball King. The traditional Ball formally presents young women and men to society.

Red rose balls decorated the club. They were centerpieces and on the walls near the fireplace. The rose balls were set on urns and pedestals near the columns where the debs and escorts were introduced by announcer Bill Wallace.

Nosegays of red roses decorated the family tables and red rose sprays were anchored at the end of each table providing a rosy aisle for the court procession. Debutantes carried nosegays of red roses. Floral designer for the ball was Jim Vallion.

A 50- inch big screen television was set in the Terrace Bar and guests gathered there for the OU-OSU football game.  They sat quietly for dinner and the presentation with their cell phones turned on mute, but after the debs and escorts left the stage for dancing, the football fans made their way back to the tv for the final plays.

The debutantes, all wearing long white ballgowns and long white gloves, were Sarah Rainbolt, Claire Philbin, Ruby Coyle, Francie Love, Alex Stapleton, Leigh McCoy, Eleanor Isaacs, Karoline Knapp, Maguire Hall, Janell Fryer, Elizabeth Geren, Alix Benear, Lindsay Howard, Greer Colton, Rachel Flesher, Kylie Esco, Audrey Johnston, Margaret Salyer, Alice Frederickson and Kendall Claus.

They were escorted by their fathers.

Escorts, all dressed in formal attire, were  Stephen Sanger, Robert Samis, Patrick Nesbitt, Johnson King, Robert Blair, Richard Hill, Colin Bright, Philip Gresham, Jay Wallace, Daniel Price, Taylor Eisner, Thomas Holden, Kirk Miller, Alex Swisher, Robert Bradford, Miles Dunning and Jon Robinson.

This year’s committee members were:  Libby Denner, chairman, Connell Branan, co-chairman; Teri Benear, Mindy Cunningham, Kathryn Crabb, Shirley Everest, Tricia Everest, Elain Frogge, Karen Hanstein, Caroline Hendee, Anne Henderson, Ciane Hogan, Linda James, Laura Kirkpatrick, Tricia Law, Bebe MacKellar, Susan McPherson, Lisa Pierce, Dana Price, Leslie Russell, Karen Samis, Mary FitzSimons, Lauren Sullivan.

Pages/attendants for the King were Matthew Cowan Price and Blake Davison Brigham.

Former Kings attending the Ball and announced during the procession of kings were Bill Cleary, Dick Clements, Bill Swisher, Dan Hogan, Ed Cook, G.T. Blankenship, Ralph Thompson, John Mee, Ron Elkins, Jim Everest, Bob Johnson, Dick Sias, Lee Allan Smith, Gene Rainbolt, Ted Elam and John Bozalis.

The 2009 Ball chairman is Connell Branan.

Connell Branan and  Kathryn Crabb (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace)

Linda James and Elain Frogge (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

Ruby and J.W. Coyle wait their turn for the presentation. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace)

Guests enjoyed dinner prior to the presentation. The red rose balls decorated the tables. Jim Vallion and Trochta’s created flower arrangements and decorated the Club for the Ball. (Photo by Helen Ford Wallace).

The king’s chair where Morton Payne sat during the procession. (Somehow I missed getting a picture of him with his wife Libby and a photo of chairman Libby Denner. Look for them in Peggy Gandy’s column in Sunday’s Oklahoman next week. HFW)

PARTIES EXTRA!

A Parties Extra!Podcast—Helen Ford Wallace interviews Beaux Arts Ball Chairman, Libby Denner; Co-Chairman and next year’s chairman Connell Branan, and last year’s chairman Elain Frogge, CLICK HERE to listen

Connell Branan, Libby Denner and Elain Frogge were in the NewsOk studio for a podcast.

NOVEMBER 6, 2008

Former Kings of the Beaux Arts Ball met for a stag party in the home of Dr. John Bozalis.
The group had cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and speculated about the 63rd king who will be revealed at the Nov. 29th Ball at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.

Debutantes and escorts will be introduced as well as the new king.

 Ed Cook, Stanton Young, John Mee, Lee Allan Smith, Dan Hogan, Dr. John Bozalis, Bob Johnson, Jim Everest, Tom Dulaney, Judge Ralph Thompson, Gene Rainbolt, Dick Clements and Bill Cleary. (Photo provided).

Connell Branan and Libby Denner

When mothers of the 2008 Beaux Arts Ball debutantes and escorts met October 8 in the home of  Co-Chairman Connell Branan, they received information about the  63rd annual Ball.

The coffee table was decorated with white roses in silver goblets and at the front door were pumpkins and white pansies.
Libby Denner is Ball chairman. On the committee are Denner, Branan, Elain Frogge, Ciane Hogan, Leslie Russell, Laura Kirkpatrick, Kathryn Crabb, Karen Hanstein, Caroline Hendee, Mary FitzSimons, Anne Henderson, Lauren Sullivan, Tricia Law, Bebe MacKellar, Dana Price, Mindy Cunningham,Terri Benear, Tricia Everest, Susan McPherson, Linda James, Shirley Everest, Lisa Pierce and Karen Samis.
The Ball will be at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club on November 29th. Proceeds benefit the  Acquisition Fund at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.