Five to make debut at N.C. Debutante Ball
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 29, 2010 1:50 AM
Five young women from Goldsboro will be among the 218 debutantes presented at the 84th annual North Carolina Debutante Ball, held in Raleigh on Sept. 10.
The Terpsichorean Club, comprised of young gentlemen from the Raleigh area, was formed in the 1920s to sponsor an annual statewide debutante ball to present the state's prominent young ladies and to honor their families. Except for the World War II years, the ball has been held every year since 1923.
Eight functions will be held in honor of debutantes and their families Sept. 9-11. The formal presentation will take place that Friday evening at Meymandi Concert Hall.
Young ladies are selected by over 200 nominators across the state. Final approval is made by the Terpsichorean Club members.
The leader of the ball is chosen from Wake County's debutantes and 14 young women from around the state are named assistant leaders. One of the assistant leaders is Elizabeth Murray Borden from Goldsboro.
All five of the area debutantes are legacies, which means that their mother, grandmother or other family member before them participated in the event.
Ms. Borden is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Lee Borden and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Brownrigg Borden, all of Goldsboro.
She is a graduate of Eastern Wayne High School and currently a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill. Her father will be chief marshal and William Nufer Dixon Jr. of Raleigh will be assistant marshal.
Virginia Kathryn Best, 19, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Sanborn Best of Goldsboro and a business major at The College of Charleston.
Her father will serve as chief marshal and Jack Sterling Scott III of Goldsboro will be her junior marshal.
Ellen Gay Elmore is daughter of Gay Jeffreys Elmore of Goldsboro and Thomas Elmore III of Swansboro and granddaugher of James Jeffreys and the late Lois Jeffreys of Goldsboro. A sophomore of UNC-Chapel Hill, she is majoring in political science and Spanish with pre-law studies.
Ms. Elmore's brother, Thomas Elmore IV, will be chief marshal, while Graham Martin of Washington will serve as assistant marshal.
Kathryn Randolph McMillan is a sophomore at The University of Cincinnati, College Conser-vatory of Music, pursuing a BFA in musical theatre.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Bridges McMillan and granddaughter of Dr. and Mrs. Paul Clifford Bennett Jr., all of Goldsboro, her father will be chief marshal and assistant marshal will be Josh Smith from Pittsburgh, PA.
Emily Parks Northington graduated from Eastern Wayne High School and is a sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Rousseau Northington of Goldsboro, her father will serve as chief marshal, while Bruce Bakhtiar McNair from Bethesda, Maryland will be assistant marshal.