Spring Family Weekend/May Ball Queen '99
April 25, 1999
Spring Family Weekend, April 23 - 24, was a time for appreciation, recognition, and celebration. Friday night's family picnic on the river lawn was followed by a glee club/ensemble musical review in Ball Memorial gymnasium. Music director Beverly Gordon led the performance.
Afterward, all who attended retreated back to the river lawn for the Lantern Ceremony which featured a new Lantern Song co-written by senior class president Yaisha Harding and Beverly Gordon. "I know in year's past, no one used to practice the lantern song. The singing would be off-key, dreadful, just embarrassing because no one rehearsed…but this year has to be one of the best ever. They were great!," said SMS alumna and chemistry teacher Sara Brooks watching the ceremony.
(Pictured l. to r.) Nina Van Rooijen, Katy Challoner, Emily Reich, Chase Craven, and Lacey Wright pose for a picture in front of Latane Hall prior to May Ball 1999 festivities.
At the conclusion of the Lantern Ceremony, campus receptions were held in Anderton House and Latane Hall; meanwhile an art reception honoring senior Bekah Schneider and an art show to benefit Kosovo were held in the art room. Saturday morning, 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 p.m., a spring celebration/academic open house took place in the gym. Seniors presented their Independent Study Projects; Biology teacher John Wemple gave a slide presentation on his minimester trip to Spain. Following the reception in the gym, a rocket launch presented by Dr. Rick Kahler's physics classes was held at Gilchrist Field. A luncheon honoring seniors followed at noon under the tent on the back lawn. The Class of 2003 led by President Eva Martinez awarded individual certificates to the senior class with categories like "best dressed," "most artistic," "highest self-esteem," "funniest," and "most congenial." The freshman, sophomore, and junior classes also formally honored the seniors with a written statement, song, and poem, respectively. Senior class sponsors Catherine Neuhardt-Minor and John Wemple showed off their artistic skills with a free-flow poem, written and delivered by Neuhardt-Minor and accompanied by Wemple on guitar.
The Class of 99 on the steps of St. Margaret's Hall prior to May Ball Presentation.
May Queen (left) Hillary Pugh and the Maid of Honor (right) Ann Wang lead the class.
At 7:30, seniors and their presenters lined up for pictures and mingled with guests in front of SMS Hall. By 8:00 all guests stood around the dance floor as juniors formed a processional line, standing either side of the red carpet, from the stage to the tent; the presentation of the Class of 1999 followed as each senior and her presenter was announced by David Broad. The 1999 May Queen, Hillary Pugh, was crowned.
In the tent, pleasing Motown tunes kept the students, their dates, families, and friends, dancing until curfew at 11:30 p.m. An after-May Ball party followed at the Riverside Wellness Center in Tappahannock. The party, for those who didn't get enough at May Ball, offered more dancing as DJ tunes--Eminem, Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, many others--and a whirling globe spun well into the night until 2:30 a.m.
For all who were able to attend, Spring Family Weekend was a special occasion that many will never forget.
SENIOR CLASS 1999
May Queen: Miss Hillary Paige Pugh presented by Mr. Allen Truman Pugh
Maid of Honor : Miss Nai-Ying Wang presented by Mr. Mark Hampton Eastham
Class President: Miss Yaisha Caron Harding presented by Mr. Rodney Francis Moore
Class Vice-President: Miss Kimberly Lynn Houck presented by Lieutenant Colonel Roger Paul Houck
Class Secretary: Miss Brinkley Carlisle Stone presented by Mr. George Ellis McDowell
Class Treasurer: Miss Caroline Stuart Nickel presented by Mr. David Lewis Nickel
Miss Jessica LeAnne Arnest presented by Mr. Thomas Lee Arnest
Miss Hannah Elizabeth Bowen presented by Mr.Robert D. Bowen
Miss Katherine Clark Boyce presented by Mr. Clark George Boyce, Jr.
Miss Monica Leigh Burgess presented by Mr. Jesse Lee Burgess, Jr.
Miss Katherine Ingram Davant presented by Mr.Fleetwood Douglas Davant, Jr.
Miss Kate Eileen Deily presented by Mr.William Ray Deily
Miss Lauren Elizabeth Eggleston presented by Mr. James Edgar Eggleston
Miss Erica Lee Thompson Ell presented by Mr.Robert Allen Hetzler
Miss Amber Chelynne Ellis presented by Mr.Daniel Joseph Rish
Miss Laura Haden Halperin presented by Mr.Jeffrey Mark Halperin
Miss Stephanie Marie Hinson presented by Mr. Charles David Terry
Miss Kathleen Ann Montague Horsley presented by Mr.Nelson Bailey Horsley, Jr.
Miss Akemi Iizumi presented by Mr. Jesse Lloyd Clark
Miss Jeong Eun Kim presented by Mr.Hollis Williams Duncan
Miss Hilary Buckler L'Allier presented by Mr. Roland Octave L'Allier, Jr.
Miss Naoko Miyajima presented by Mr.Joseph Anthony Sgroi
Miss Lesley Pryor Newman presented by Dr. Robert Joseph Newman
Miss Jung Youn Park presented by Dr. Richard Leslie Kahler
Miss Rosalind Ghafar Rogers presented by Mr. Ronald Alber Rogers
Miss Elizabeth Wesley Sadler presented by Mr. Henry Philip Sadler, Jr.
Miss Rebekah Ellen Schneider presented by Dr. William Martin Schneider
Miss Lauren Alexa Steininger presented by Mr. Thomas L. Steininger
Miss Chesley Cheatwood Vaughan presented by Mr. John Brackett Vaughan, III
Miss Cynthia Taliaferro Walker presented by Mr. William Middleton Walker, III
Miss Ann Cary Worthington presented by the Very Rev. Daniel Owen Worthington, Jr.
Miss Anisa Agim Xhafka presented by Mr. Keith Edward Krusz
Miss Azeta Agim Xhafka presented by Mr. Thomas Rhys Weakley, Sr.
