First published in the Dec. 10 print issue of the South Pasadena Review
Photos by Erin Rodick, South Pasadena Review
The Pasadena Guild of Children’s Hospital recently presented 34 young women, including eight honored in absentia, at the 59th June Ball at the Langham Huntington Hotel.
Due to COVID, the June Ball was postponed until November, making the 2021 Ball affectionately remembered as the “June Ball in the fall.”
More than 450 guests celebrated with the debutantes and their families in the ballroom, which was transformed into a spectacular French garden by Jacob Maarse florists.
Kathleen Fox, daughter of Robert and Rachel Fox, was the sole debutante from South Pasadena this year.
Pasadena Guild of Children’s Hospital President Cathy Woolway plus ball co-chairwomen Rita Bristol, Jinny Dalbeck and Sarah Shelton, greeted guests at a reception before the Debutante Presentation. The program began with welcome remarks by Woolway and Kevin Brogan, director and Foundation Board of Trustee’s chair at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Alexander McGilvray announced each debutante as she appeared center stage. After each young woman was presented and escorted on the arm of her father, the debutantes joined together to curtsy in unison to the applause of the Guild members and guests. The fathers then joined their daughters on the dance floor for the first waltz of the evening as the band Rembrandt played “Ten Minutes Ago” from “Cinderella.”
Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Guild’s current project, the Pasadena guild chair, pediatrician-in-chief and senior vice president of academic affairs at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Established in 1947 by a small group of dedicated hospital volunteers, the Pasadena Guild has raised more than $35 million for CHLA, successfully completing eight Guild endowments in the areas of pediatric eye cancer, pediatric surgery, adolescent medicine, bone and soft tissue research, developmental biology and regenerative medicine. Additionally, the Guild has made developmental biology endowments in partnership with the Saban Research Institute and funded one capital campaign.
