Black Tie Masquerade Ball

On Friday night, the newly formed Young Friends of the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund hosted the first Black Tie Masquerade Ball at the Stotesbury Mansion. Krista Guidi, Christine Bugg, Young Friends coordinator for the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund, and Peggy Dolan, executive director of the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund. When Kelly Anne Dolan was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, parents Peggy and Joe learned how the serious illness of a child can affect an entire family. After six-year-old Kelly lost her battle with the disease in October 1976, Peggy and Joe created the Fund to help families dealing with the illness or disability of a child with financial assistance and advocacy on behalf of the families.
 

 
Walking into the storied mansion just off Rittenhouse Square, in the middle of a black-tie masquerade party has a certain air of mystery and excitement. The night beckoned me back to the most famous masquerade ball of them all: the 1966 Truman Capote Masquerade Ball, or more recently, the annual masquerade party on CW’s Gossip Girl, where the anonymity of mask-wearing leads to dramatic encounters. Below: Marianne Gignelli, Courtney Grant, Brian Govberg and Chelsea Wurzak sit one out after dancing to the tunes of DJ Jonathan Silva.
 

 
Below: Congratulations to Roger and Melissa Levy, who got married since the last time I saw them.
 

 
Below: Chandler “DJ Spasy” Coleman looks on as Briana Thrower dances with a friend.
 

 
Below: Last month, Kayla Bolyai was wearing her flapper best at the Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Rodin Garden Party. This night, she and Daniel Robbins enjoyed an air of mystery in matching masks.
 

 
Below: Wearing homemade masks, Elaine Mirabile and Ezra Ranz look scary exotic. Ezra tells me it took him a couple days to make his papier-mache hat, which is molded around a hockey helmet.
 

 
Below: Noel Perate (right) helps Krista Guidi prepare for the party.
 

 
Below: Stephanie Hung, Erica Jang and Chris Zheng look very fashionable.
 

 
Below: Bill Lang and Julia Miller.
 

 
Below: Erica Busch and Noah Hoffman. This was Noah’s return to the Philly social scene after living on the West Coast for more than a year.
 

 
Below: Keith T. Crippen keeps watch on his jeweled turtle. If you look closely, he has another on his tie.
 

 
Below: Ben Hardy and Tiffany Tan enjoy s’mores on a stick prepared by Feastivities Catering.
 

 
Below: Jillian Bluestone, Brittany Holton, Tina Lamsback, Kate Groshong and Sarah Atkinson.
 

 
Below: Danielle Krupta, Leigh Rubin, Lisa Katzer, Meredith Solbe, Stacey Lieb, Erica Busch, and Dayna Bank love the idea of a masquerade party. “It’s about time a fabulous event like this occurs in Philly,” Erica Busch told me.
 

 
Below: Alexander Hankin, Danielle Hankin, Megan Cipiloni, Ilana Waber and Matt Grossman. Ilana reminded me of another event coming up next week not to be missed: the Jimmy Rollins Family Foundation’s “A Night in Paris” at the National Constitution Center. No masks are required, but there will be dancing and an appearance by two celebrity dancers from ABC’s hit show, Dancing With the Stars.