Pussyfooters Blush Ball 2015

Like so many little girls, I used to dream of dressing like a pretty pink princess and going to a ball. Since moving to New Orleans in 2009, I not only find occasions to attend balls, I get to be part of throwing an annual ball – dressed all in pink! The Pussyfooters annual Blush Ball is a “Party with a Purpose,” a fundraiser benefitting the victims of domestic violence served by the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children (METRO). But the Blush Ball is also a heck of a good time and a great way to kick of the Carnival season.

Held at the spacious Generations Hall, the party featured dancing with DJ Quickie Mart in one room and dancing with Big Sam’s Funky Nation in another. Along with a fun photo booth, the silent auction and raffle with over 100 prizes spread across tables in the room separating the 2 dance halls. The guy who got The Big Lebowski poster signed by John Goodman seemed especially pleased as was the couple who won the haunting photo Joe Dunn Arts generously donated through me.

I often feel proud to be a Pussyfooter. Pussyfooters are medical professionals, oil executives, business owners, mothers and more. We are a group of women over 30 who dance in parades, donate our services to non-profit events and support each other. Blush Ball gives us an opportunity to extend that support to other women in our community as we collected over $20,000 this year for METRO’s cause.

But, right now, I’m also proud of our ability to show people a good time. The ball is a “costumes encouraged” event. In a city the specializes in costuming up, it’s fun to see what everyone comes up with. The most common wardrobe choice is to wear pink and I love seeing all the men in pink. We Pussyfooters did a few dance routines but people seemed to have plenty of fun dancing all night without any encouragement from us.

When I joined the Pussyfooters a year and a half ago, at least a dozen women said the same thing to me at my first event, “You’re going to have so much fun!” Honestly, it’s been a lot of work. There were dances to learn, events and meetings to attend, tickets to sell, donations to find, dues to pay, names to remember and one parade can equal up to 11 miles of dancing. But when I finally get to sponsor a new member of my own, I will tell her the same thing. It takes months of work and planning to pull off the annual Blush Ball but while selling raffle tickets, I looked around at the friends who’d bought tickets through me and I saw laughing and dancing and new people meeting and felt great.

Then I lined up with my pink army and put on a show and felt like a pretty pink goddess – and it was “so much fun!”

If you’d like a chance to attend another “party with a purpose,” the 610 Stompers will be hosting their “Superball” on January 23.