Junior Civic League of Youngstown to host 60th annual Cinderella Ball

Staff report

BOARDMAN

The Junior Civic League of Youngstown will present its 60th annual Cinderella Ball at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center, 7440 South Ave. The 2015 theme is “A Reflection of Excellence.”

Miss Cinderella, first attendant and second attendant will be chosen by popular vote that will begin at 7. The Michael Austin Project will provide entertainment.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the event, a special acknowledgement will be given to Jeanne Lee McDowell, the 1956 winner of Miss Cinderella. McDowell was 16 when she participated in the JCL’s first Cinderella Ball. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University and was an elementary school teacher for 30 years. She lives in Rome, N.Y., with her husband of 52 years, Leon McDowell. They have two children, Craig McDowell and Dr. Christi (Herman) McDowell Patterson.

Nine debutantes will be presented during the event: Maya Ballard of Ursuline High School; Myra Corley of Boardman High School; De’Ajah Green of Liberty High School; Jo’Vohna Hughes and Angela Johnson of Youngstown Early College; Maursadie McElroy of Boardman; Marquett Samuels of Austintown Fitch High School; Courtney Teague of Ursuline; and Seaven Weaver of Austintown Fitch.

Escorts are Courtlyn Armstrong of Firestone High School; Duane Davis II of Youngstown State University; Vincent Fryer Jr. of Niles McKinley High School; Tylair Little of Warren G. Harding High School; Artemus Scissum Jr. of Boardman; Dorian Smith of Austintown Fitch; James Thomas Jr. of East High School and Choffin Career and Technical Center; Jason Trice of the Academy of Urban Scholars; and Darian Wilson of YSU.

Event sponsors are the YSU Foundation, DeBartolo Corp., Home Savings, Jackson Podiatry Inc., Sherise Curd, Community Bus Services, Eastern Gateway Community College, the city of Youngstown and the Youngstown mayor’s office, HLW Fast Track Inc. and M-7 Technologies.

The league’s scholarship program was developed to support qualified African-American students seeking higher education, and they have awarded more than $590,000 to date. The Cinderella Ball is the sole fundraising event for the scholarship fund.

The 2015 Cinderella Ball chairperson is Jerrine King, co-chair is Carla Baldwin, and JCL president is Susan M. Moorer. For information on the ball or sponsorships, call Moorer at 330-509-4629. For information on the JCL, visit www.juniorcivicleague.org.