Cotillion celebrates Springfield summer

Summer came early to Springfield this weekend in the form of the 54th Apple Blossom Cotillion.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100503/NEWS02/5030373/1003/NEWS02       # # # # Cotillion celebrates Springfield summer  •  Rutland Herald  •  By Gordon Dritschilo STAFF WRITER - Published: May 3, 2010  •  Summer came early to Springfield this weekend in the form of the 54th Apple Blossom Cotillion.  •  Kamryn Sidney was crowned Apple Blossom Queen as Tiffany DeRosia, Ashley Richardson, Amanda Aberle and Emily Mobus were named to her court.  •  The Cotillion, held Friday and Saturday at Riverside Middle School, is an annual fundraiser for the Springfield Hospital Foundation and the largest local event of the year, according to organizers.  •  High school senior girls and their escorts perform a song-and-dance show and a panel of judges select the queen based on that performance as well as interviews with each contestant.  •  "The girls perform as a group," foundation director Larry Kraft said Sunday. "They get introduced with their escorts and by themselves. They bow and curtsy and so forth."Kraft said songs were chosen to fit with a summer theme, and Kraft said the number included "Sunshine on My Shoulders," "Summer Wind," "Heat Wave" and "Summer of '69." Kraft said he particularly enjoyed the latter.  •  "It's a fun, upbeat number," he said. "The girls seemed to have a lot of fun doing it. … The whole event is a highlight. It's hard to pick out one aspect of it."  •  Elementary school students also perform a miniature review.  •  "We do them just like the high school couples," Kraft said. "They come up in their tuxedos and their fancy dresses."  •  Keeping to the same theme, the younger group did "You Are My Sunshine" and Nat "King" Cole's "Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer."  •  Kraft said he did not have numbers, but that he believes the fundraising aspect of the event went well.  •  "It seemed, just on the visuals, there were more people Friday night than we've had previously. Saturday night looked about on par," he said. "I think we're going to be all right."  •