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By LIZZIE BOWEN | Staff Writer

PELHAM– It was an evening of beauty and grace as the 2023 Starlight Debutante Cotillion was hosted on March 18.

Dr. Denise Greggory, Lori Harris and Dr. KeAndra Jones all had a vision for this special event. The event was originally formed in 2013.

“This is a legacy,” Jones said. “We resurrected it, and we wanted to make sure our 12 girls were recognized for all of their hard work and community service that we do.”

Jones said this was a nine-month process that the girls went through. Each month, there were different activities for the ladies to partake in.

“They have worked with the UNCF where they worked as hostesses,” Jones said. “They attended the Dream Girls musical, they had a mother-daughter luncheon and they took cooking classes. We just wanted to give them the opportunity to give back to the community in many, many different ways.”

All girls who participated were seniors in high school, some coming from Thompson High School, Pelham High School, Spain Park High School Homewood High School, Hoover High School and John Carroll Catholic.

“Each of these girls all excel academically,” Jones said. “They participate in a number of extracurricular activities as well.”

Jones said Dr. Greggory, who also had a daughter who participated in the cotillion had the idea to spearhead this event

“It was with her foresight that she worked with past organizers of the Starlight Debutante of 2023 to get the footprint,” Jones said. “With that footprint, we started up the program again.”

Jones said she hopes to see this event continue on for years to come and that people have expressed interest in carrying on the event in the future.

“It was magnificent,” Jones said. “It was simply beautiful. It was just stunning elegance everywhere.”

Sherri Jackson from CBS news served as emcee of the event and read the bio of the girls and where they are planning attending college in the fall.

“They absolutely loved it,” Jones said. “They were all beautiful princesses. They were just absolutely gorgeous, they were beaming with pride. The girls felt like the beautiful princesses they were. To be presented by their fathers, the fathers had just as much pride in their faces as the girls did. They walked upright, as they always do, but there was something in their posture that night that just exuded excellence all around.”