The blossoms on apple trees are far behind this cold Vermont spring, but that won’t stop the 59th annual Apple Blossom Cotillion.
Girls and boys from Springfield area schools rehearse for the 59th annual Apple Blossom Cotillion to be held Friday and Saturday nights at Riverside Middle School in Springfield.
Photo: Photo by Len EmeryPublished May 1, 2015 in the Rutland Herald
Apple Blossom Cotillion celebrates 59 years of dance, song and community
By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The blossoms on apple trees are far behind this cold Vermont spring, but that won’t stop the 59th annual Apple Blossom Cotillion.
The perennial favorite, one of the biggest social events in this town, debuts Friday.
The two-day event, a major fundraiser for Springfield Hospital and Springfield Medical Care Systems, this year features 80 young people from local high schools and elementary schools.
These include 20 high school senior girls from Springfield area high schools, and their escorts, as well as 40 elementary school stuents who join in some of the musical performances — 1980s songs this year.
Pam Church Shaughnessy, the administrative director, is back for her 11th year after a two-year hiatus. She’s seen it from the perspective of a senior girl as well.
“For the Springfield girls, there’s an element of a rite of passage,” Shaughnessy said. “Some of the senior girls this year were little contestants before and they’ve been waiting to be a senior.”
Shaughnessy said the cotillion has been “a huge tradition” for 59 years.
“It’s something that Springfield girls do and it brings the community together. There’s nothing else like it around. It’s important to Springfield tradition, afterall, it’s been 59 years,” she said.
A couple of years ago, Shaughnessy said, there were only 12 senior girls. “You wondered, ‘Is it losing its appeal?’ One year, we had 38 couples. You just don’t know.”
Watching the 20 couples work with the younger kids this year, “It’s just a really nice relationship, that sense of community,” she said.
“I have goosebumps,” Shaughnessy said Thursday evening, getting ready for the event’s dress rehearsal. “I’m so proud of them. It gives kids a fun, positive thing to do and experience singing and dancing.”
This year’s theme is “Totally 80s,” with songs from Springsteen to Van Halen, that are likely very familiar with the parents of this year’s contestants, said Larry Kraft, master of ceremonies for the cotillion, whose day job is director of development for Springfield Medical Care Systems.
He said the three directors, Shaughnessy, Kyla Beardsley White and Carrie Patch, have collaborated on a unique “1980s Mash Up” for the cotillion’s opening number, with numerous different groups of the seniors dancing to different songs.
“It’s very cool, it’s very fun to watch,” he said. “I guarantee, people will be clapping along.”
He said the contestants start off the night wearing 1980s prom dresses, eventually trading the costumes for their modern coral cotillion gowns.
He said another highlight of the cotillion will be the escorts performing a Springsteen number, dressed in jeans and plaid shirts.
The young participants will perform Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy,” he said.
The show concludes with a dance featuring Van Halen’s 1980s hit “Jump.”
For 59 straight years, Springfield High School senior girls have devoted every Sunday afternoon starting in January to rehearsals, learning how to sing and dance with their escorts, and perform choreographed routines with each other, as well as the often show-stealing elementary school kids.
This year, 17 of the 20 couples come from Springfield High School, with two girls coming from Stevens High School in Claremont, N.H., and one girl from Green Mountain Union High School in Chester.
Kraft said in the case of the New Hampshire girls, they had been young performers about 10 years ago and wanted to perform as seniors.
The cotillion had its roots in a formal dance with the presentation of debutantes, but has transformed into a celebration of modern song and dance.
Interest in performing in the cotillion has been strong, expanding from last year’s 14 couples.
The Springfield High School senior girls participating in the cotillion this year are Maygan Daly, Rachel Hawkins, Brooke Holl, Cassandra Howe, Alyssa Lucius, Chelsea McAllister, Ryeleigh McCarthy Clark, Melissa Morin, Corrina Nichols, Nicole Patterson, Jordan Phelps, Alexis Roldan, Bryne-Marie Sidney, Kaitlyn Stokarski, Ashley Vandenburgh and Madisyn Watson.
The Green Mountain Union High School senior is Breanna Vittum; and the two seniors from Stevens High School are Mariah Carroll and Anissa Girard.
Kraft said any students from the hospital’s service area are eligible to apply to participate in the cotillion.
The cotillion raises an average of $15,000 a year, he said, with $5,000 going to medical scholarships and the balance going to a special project at the hospital or its health centers. This year, he said, the money is being used for medical scholarships and to purchase equipment for a health center.
Tickets for Friday’s Opening Night are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Tickets for Saturday, which features the crowning of the queen and naming of her court, are $15 in advance and $18 at the door.
Both performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6 p.m. at Dressel Gymnasium at Riverside Middle School in Springfield
Tickets may be purchased at Tina’s Hallmark Store in the Springfield Plaza, Boccaccio’s salons in Springfield or Bellows Falls.
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