Previous incarnations of the Hot Springs Jazz Society's Mardi Gras Costume Ball & Contest took place in the ballroom of Hot Springs' Austin Hotel. With that establishment -- now the Hotel Hot Springs -- being renovated, the 2016 version was forced to make a major venue move. OK, maybe not that major. After all, the Hot Springs Convention Center's Horner Hall is separated from the hotel basically by a lobby and a flight of stairs.
Luckily, the fun atmosphere of the event didn't budge an inch. The society's Krewe of Ouachita hosted the Jan. 30 benefit, chaired by Bill Freeman.
Dorothy Morris reigned as the fourth queen of the ball. Gary Simmons was king.
Guests bid on silent-auction items, danced to the sounds of the Delta Brass Express and the Spa City Stompers, and enjoyed libations and Cajun cuisine. They bought raffle tickets for a ring from Stephens Jewelers and vied for the prizes given for hidden mini-king-cake babies. The event was once again highlighted by the traditional second-line dance throughout the hall, led by Freeman, Morris and Simmons.
The costume contest featured old winners in new royal raiments. The overall women's winner, Heather Buckley, portrayed the subject of the 1965 Roy Lichtenstein comic-art piece The Melody Haunts My Reverie, complete with polka-dot face; her partner in competition and in life, men's winner Aaron Buckley, was the man of her dreams, literally.
The Hot Springs Jazz Society is a nonprofit organization "dedicated to the preservation, presentation and perpetuation of jazz."
-- Story and photos by Helaine R. Williams
High Profile on 02/07/2016