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DON THEY NOW THEIR GLAM APPAREL AT THE WINTERY CRYSTAL CHARITY BALL BY CHRISTINA GEYER. PHOTOGRAPHY DANA DRIENSKY, HOLT HAYNSWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY. Helena Wall Doug Wall T housands of crystal icicles. Flurries of hydrangeas. Halls decked with diamonds and pearls. On the first Saturday of December, an eve traditionally reserved for The Crystal Charity Ball, the first unimaginably glamorous snow of the season arrived. Outside, there was neither a fleet of snowplows nor a snowflake in sight, but inside the Hilton Anatole, a lavish winter wonderland certainly befell. "I was sitting in the Ball office after Christmas, looking at the beautiful lights in Highland Park Village," said Crystal Charity Ball chairman Connie O'Neill regarding her yuletide inspiration. "I thought to myself how much Jim I love that time of year … and it just hit me that these were the feelings Lee I wanted at the Ball." There are, of course, few better forces fit to make it snow inside the Anatole's Chantilly Ballroom for the "Tis the Season" theme than three CCB mainstays: event designer Tom Addis and The Garden Gate's floral masterminds Maria and Junior Villanueva. With help from decorations chairman Tricia Besing and the polished CCB members who spent the week prior outfitting the Anatole for the Ball, things began to take shape. Statuesque Jan Strimple, disguised as an Ice Queen, struck a snowy pose at the entrance in a costume designed by Rob Bradford. "The coat has 10 yards of fabric, and the costume weighs 37 pounds!" Strimple gasped. She was flanked by dozens of noble firs twinkling with tiny lights and two darling snow angels who were, in fact, flawless child models from the Kim Dawson Agency. Of course, all the social doyennes dressed with holidays in mind — from the rich, red gowns worn by Lee Ann White, Peggy Sewell, Roz Colombo, Norma Hunt, Kristi Sherrill Hoyl, Amy Simmons, and Tavia Hunt to the barrage of crisp winter white donned by Billie Leigh Rippey, Kim Miller, and Alicia Wood. Who was dressed best? Top honors go to the Chantilly Ballroom — a frothy, all-white forest of tables, chairs and elaborate centerpieces — wherein whispers spun through the crowd that this might be the most beautiful Ball to date. Society snowflakes: Annette and Harold Simmons, Margot and Ross Perot, Mary and John Gill, Betsy and Jim Sowell, Sarah and Ross Perot Jr., Barbara and Don Daseke, Caren and Pete Kline, Lynn McBee, Elizabeth Marc Margot and Eric Gambrell, Diane and Hal Brierley, Connie Sigel Perot Sigel Gina and Ken Betts, Linda and Steve Ivy, Alison and Robert Farrow, Pat and Charles McEvoy, Ellen and Don Winspear, Clo Cloud, Shelle and Michael Sills, Doris and Jack Jacobs, Heather and Ray Washburne, Elisa and Stephen Summers, Christie Carter, Sunie Lisa and Steve Troutt Solomon, Dallas and Kenny Troutt Darryl Snadon, Di and David Robbie Johnston, Briggs Nancy Nancy and Briggs Clint Carlson, and Lisa and Kenny Troutt. DeeDee Lee Alan & Lee Ann White Ross Perot Kim Askew, Julia Welborn Toni Munoz, Dan Hunt, Norma Hunt Isabel O'Neill, Jack O'Neill, Kristen O'Neill, Amanda O'Neill Billie Leigh Rippey Larry Gekiere Faye Briggs, Ralph Gorman Ball chairman Connie O'Neill & Chris O'Neill Steve & Linda Ivy Coley Clark Annette Simmons Amy Simmons Carmen & Dan Godwin Elizabeth & Jeff Fronterhouse Jennifer Clark Paul & Janie Cooke Charles & Pat McEvoy Carl & Peggy Sewell FEBRUARY | PAGE 10 | 2012 Nicholas & Stacey McCord Tom Addis