By Derek Schlennstedt
Friday night, dressed to the nines, 12 debutantes filled the Mt Evelyn Ridge Retirement Village hall.
Unlike other debutantes though, this one didn’t cater to the typical high school students, but instead was organised for 12 sexagenarian couples who had been practicing for two months in the lead-up to the event.
The debutantes’ ball was organised after Pat Crabtree a resident of Mt Evelyn Ridge Retirement Village raised the idea because she had never been given the opportunity to be a debutante when she was younger.
Many residents shared the same story – that they were never given the opportunity to attend a deb and were now making up for lost time.
“I did the school social but not the deb … it just wasn’t as big as it is these days, and a lot of people didn’t do them,” Pat Crabtree said.
“I had to tick it off the bucket list.”
Looking nothing short of fabulous on the night, there was plenty of sequins, lace, and even a Scottish kilt made an appearance. All the couples sourced their dresses from local op shops.
Di Mckenzie organiser of the event and dance instructor said that the couple had been practising the Pride of Erin Waltz every Monday for two months.
“They’ve all done amazingly, and I don’t think anyone knows what we are going to do next Monday night,” she said.
Married for 52 years, couple John and June Millward said they never had the chance when they were younger and that this was their ‘last chance to debut’.
Member for Evelyn Christine Fyffe also attended the celebrations, which she said she was delighted to be invited to and mentioned how beautiful all the debutantes looked.
