THE Sutherland Shire Mayoral Debutante Charity Ball was a rite of passage for many shire couples such as Adam and Emma Johnson.
The ball was their equivalent of a high school formal for the couple who own the Baked Patisserie at Kirrawee.
Emma was in year 11 when she went to the Debutante Ball in 2000 with Adam as her partner. ‘‘Adam and I had been dating since I was 15 and he was 18 but we couldn’t go to my school formal together because we attended different schools,’’ Emma said.
‘‘My parents thought it’d be good to take part in the debutante ball so I took Adam as my partner. It was like my school formal.’’
They wed in 2006 and now have three children, 7, 5 and 2. Emma was also a flower girl at the Mayoral Ball in 1989. The Sutherland ball is believed to be the longest running Debutante Ball in Australia. The earliest photo of a shire ball was from 1934 at the Sutherland Picture Theatre in Boyle Street. In July, 1942, the ball raised money for the Shire Patriotic and War Fund.
The ball in its current form stems from the opening of Sutherland Entertainment Centre in 1976 which was celebrated with a gala ball.
The next year it was decided to hold the ball yearly as a local charity fund-raiser.
Since then, hundreds of debutantes and partners have joined in, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for many causes, from medical services to youth development, emergency services to assistance animals, and family welfare to service clubs.
To celebrate its history, the ball’s organisers are seeking previous debutantes to relive their experience at the Sutherland Shire Mayoral Debutante Charity Ball on Saturday, July19 to raise funds for the St George and Sutherland Medical Research Foundation. Buy tickets from the council’s administration centre on Eton Street at Sutherland or online at sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au.
What are your ball memories?
