Belles, Balls, and Bravos

Kingsport's Debutantes - The Symphony Belles

I stumbled across this unusual Kingsport Times-News section front from February 1963. It was for the Women’s section (“News For and About Women”) but nowhere does it say “Women,” just “1963 Symphony Belles” with each Belle depicted as a musical note. That was pretty adventurous newspaper design for the Times-News in 1963.

Striking enough that it attracted my attention 63 years later.

Which brings me to the Symphony Belles. For such a small group – 25 Belles are pictured on that ’63 page – they had an outsized reputation in Kingsport. Every year the Times-News devoted a full-page to introducing that season’s class of Belles. In a sense they were Kingsport’s debutantes but with a service mission attached.

So what were the Symphony Belles?

Before there could be Symphony Belles, there had to be a Symphony Ball. And before there could be a Symphony Ball, there had to be a Symphony.

Which takes us all the way back to the winter of 1947. The Kingsport Symphony, today called the Symphony of the Mountains but originally known as the Kingsport Civic Symphony Orchestra, traces its roots to that winter.

That was when what the Times described as “a group of musicians and interested people met at the Civic Auditorium and formulated a plan by which an orchestra could be organized. At that time Roger W. Barrigar was named director. Mr. Barrigar has been well known for many years in this area due to his work with the music department of State College in Johnson City.…The 42 musicians have spent hours at hard practice and want to share with the public their progress; however, they do not confess to have a professionally-polished production.”

And thus, with that short article in the Kingsport Times, was born the Kingsport Symphony.

The original orchestra was composed of normal people with a love of music: a doctor, a couple of nurses, teachers, students as young as junior high age, insurance agents, a print shop owner and a newspaper editor.

Here are those first Symphony players – you may recognize a few names:

Mrs. Max Y. Parker, Mrs. Dewalt Young, Mrs. J. W. Campbell, Merle Pike, G. C. DeCroes, W. P. Johnson, Mrs. Richard Bailey, Ronald Scott, Virginia Rouse, Paul Overbay, Brenda Goerdel, Ruth Sykes, Mary Ellen Leonard, Pauline Gregg, Mrs. Earl Thomas, Mrs. Glenn Pendleton, Celia Smith, Margaret Hagood and Mrs. Andrew Slemp, violins; Mrs. Lois Perkins, William Bryant, Evelyn Sykes and Elizabeth Alvey, cellos; Arlene Burt, viola; Pauline Allen, bass violin; Luther Stapleton, David Crockett, Karl Rontler and Elbert Hurt, clarinets; Arthur Perkins and Elizabeth Barnes, flutes; E. B. Blankenbecler, bassoon; Ray Witt, oboe; Mrs. R. S. Key, piano; Elizabeth Kent, Pat Calloway and Betty Marshall, trumpets; Jesse Shipley and Vance Cox, trombones; J. A. Hinkley, French horn; and Warren Weddle and Ellis Binkley, percussions.

Decroes was an Eastman chemist, Binkley was executive editor of the Kingsport Times-News, Goerdels was a junior high student, Pauline Gregg was a beauty shop operator,

 

That first Symphony production went like this: “The first part of the program will consist of ‘Nocturne’ from Mendelssohn’s ‘Midsummer’s Night’s Dream’ and Haydn’s ‘Surprise Symphony.’

“After an intermission, the orchestra will play ‘The Turkish March’ from Beethoven’s ‘Ruins of Athens’ and Gluck’s overture, ‘Iphigenia in Aulis.’ The entire program will last approximately one hour.”

 

The Ball and the Belles were still almost a decade in the future.

 

In the Oct, 28, 1956 Times-News, Dorothy Ring wrote, “Music is for pleasure. And after two years of hard work to provide our community with music, the Women’s Symphony Orchestra Committee is planning to have a little fun with it. As Elizabeth Vaughn, committee president, puts it: ‘We trudged along for two years in our effort to help the orchestra, and now it’s time we enjoyed ourselves to music.’ It all sounds exciting and promises to be a social event we can look forward to each year. Friday, December 28, 1956 the committee will be hostesses for their First Annual Symphony Ball at Ridgefields Country Club. Feature of the evening will be waltz music played by the Kingsport Orchestra. Regular dance music will be provided by Sammy DeVault’s Orchestra.”

 

And thus was born the Symphony Ball.

 

We have the Symphony and the Symphony Ball.

And four years later came the Symphony Belles.

“The first group of Symphony Belles will be presented at the annual Symphony Ball February 27, 1960 at Ridgefields Country Club,” wrote the Times-News. “The eleven high school seniors, who are daughters of Women’s Committee members and Orchestra Association members, were selected as the Belles of 1960 in recognition of their service to the orchestra as ushers during the concert season. This is the first year that the Symphony Belles have been selected. They and their escorts will be presented in a figure dance at the ball.”

If you were wondering, as I was, what a “figure dance” was, here’s what Mrs. Google says, “A ‘figure dance’ (sometimes called a pattern dance or formation dance) referred to a highly structured, choreographed dance performed by a set group of couples. Rather than standard, free-form ballroom dancing (like a standard waltz or fox-trot where couples move independently around the room), a figure dance relied on the entire group executing specific, synchronized spatial patterns and geometric formations on the dance floor.”

Mrs. Google, who must have been a member of a Symphony Committee, told me a lot more but the short version is: it was intricate with weaving, partner swaps and bows and required weeks of rehearsals.

 

Those first Belles were featured in a full page spread, identifying each of the eleven Belles, her parents and her escort: “The Symphony Belles of 1960 and their escorts are: Miss Suzanne Edwards, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Edwards with her escort, Carl Eilers; Miss Zollie Harrison, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Harrison Jr., with her escort, Fayne Willis; Miss Sue Shaulis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. E. Shaulis with her escort, G. B. Purcell; Miss Ann Barrigar, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Barrigar with her escort, James Holt; Miss Vivian Eversole, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. W. C. Eversole with her escort, Ray Carpenter; Miss Suzanne Armour, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Armour with her escort, Kenneth Werth; Miss Josephine Holyoke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Holyoke with her escort, Frank Tuxen; Miss Sara Gearhart, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Gearhart with her escort, Charles Chrosniak; Miss Susie Henderson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. A. Henderson with her escort, Lloyd Edwards; Miss Anne Morrison, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hall Morrison with her escort, Thomas Haga; and Miss Selina Pendergrass, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Pendergrass with her escort, Edson Sandidge.”

(I recognize a lot of names there.)

 

The role of the Belles changed over the years. A March 2, 1986 Kingsport Times-News article explained: “The Women’s Symphony Committee of Kingsport sponsors the ‘Symphony Belle’ honors program as a reward to those who have given five years of service and support to the symphony. The Symphony Belles (and their male counterparts, the Young Gents) are invited to join the honors program. Upon formal acceptance, the belles and gents for one year perform services for the symphony and attend teas, luncheons and workshops on appearance, grooming and manners. All of these activities culminate with a glamorous and dignified ball at the Ramada Inn.”

The what? Did you notice that the writer just casually dropped in a reference to “The Young Gents?”

It was inevitable.

During the 1983-1984 season, under the presidency of Margaret Mahaffey, the women’s symphony committee started the young gentleman’s program, including males as full-fledged members, not just escorts, for the first time. There were eight Young Gents in that first group.

Even though they were called the Young Gentlemen or the Young Gents, it was inevitable that they would be called the Symphony Balls.

The Symphony Belles and Symphony Gentleman name went by the wayside years ago (the last reference I found was 1995), changed to Honorees. There was an Honoree Symphony Ball as recently as 2021.

It’s been a long time (1984) since the newspaper devoted a section front to photos of the Symphony Belles.

But for 25 years it was a Sunday newspaper tradition.