\n
An hour later, the merry momentum was to the Empire Ballroom where Papo & Son Mandao packed the dance floor. So did DJ Felipe \u201cPipe\u201d Estrada<\/strong>. Latin American rhythms permeated the premises. Eighteen local restaurants purveyed with diverse dishes, libations were from 10 donors, and Dunn and Sonnier did the fantastic florals.<\/p>\nA highlight of the Honduras hobnobbing was the presentation of the foundation\u2019s Galvez Cup to Dr. Leonardo Seoane<\/strong>, the founding dean of the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, by NOHHF board president Heidi Kiesling<\/strong>, board vice president\/chairman emeritus George J. Fowler III<\/strong>, and Pan American Life Insurance Group CEO Jose Suquet<\/strong> and his wife, Ileana<\/strong>. After the award presentation, guests and patrons participated in a \u201cComparsa\u201d second line that was joined by the Azucar Ball\u2019s organizing committee and Carl Mack<\/strong>\u00a0performers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
Headliners were numerous and included the Suquets, Jones Walker Managing Partner Bill Hines<\/strong> with Mary<\/strong>, Entergy President and CEO Deanna Rodriguez, Patricia Riddlebarger<\/strong> of Entergy, Dr. Seoane and spouse Michelle,<\/strong> Ochsner Health System Pete November,<\/strong> then Mayor\u2013elect Helena Moreno<\/strong>\u00a0with husband Chris Meeks, Bethany and Steven Friedman, Robert and Belkis DiCianni, Carmen and Kelly Duncan,<\/strong> Dr. Juan and Ana Gershanik, Jacqueline Simon, Suzanne and Michael Mestayer<\/strong>, and, in front of a dazzling aquatic background, a thematic mermaid. She couldn\u2019t dance, but just about everyone else did.<\/p>\nVictory!<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
Turning back the pages of history finds Rachel Jackson, the beloved wife of General Andrew Jackson, lamenting the fact that, because of war, she and other wives of Tennessee officers had been separated from their husbands for too long. When news of Andrew Jackson\u2019s stunning victory at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 2015, which effectively ended the War of 1812 against the British, reached Rachel, she headed to New Orleans to celebrate. During the balls to honor the Jacksons, the New Orleans elite presented their young ladies to them.<\/p>\n
Every year, the Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Louisiana recreates a Grand Ball to commemorate Jackson\u2019s victory, where the \u201cBelles of New Orleans\u201d are presented to General Jackson, Louisiana Governor William C.C. Claiborne, and New Orleans Mayor Nicholas Girod. Respectively, society members Rene J. Navarre,<\/strong> Brig. Gen. Rodney B. Painting,<\/strong> and Roger F. Villere Jr.,<\/strong> the ball\u2019s general chairman, portrayed the historical threesome at the most recent ball in the Deutsches Haus. Brig. Gen. John Bettes Dunlap III<\/strong> served as both the grand marshal and committee chairman. William Allerton III<\/strong> was the program chairman, and Ronald. J. Drez Sr., Greg Gonzales<\/strong>, retired Judge John Clifford Grout III, Paul Mire Melancon,<\/strong> D.D.S., Henry P. Rouquette Jr., Mike Schiro,<\/strong> and Brig. Gen. Painting answered to committeemen. Mr. Navarre is the society\u2019s president and Maj. Bradley T. Hayes<\/strong>, vice president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
To initiate the program, Grand Marshal Dunlap gave the call to order (and, moments later, the introduction of honored guests and dignitaries), and Maj. Bradley, the invocation. The Gfunk Band played the national anthem.<\/p>\n
A choice moment occurred when three demoiselles were presented: C\u00e9cile Curran, Grace Ohlmeyer<\/strong> and Eleanor Curtis<\/strong>, in turn, Misses New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi. Their escorts were Messrs. John McNamara<\/strong>, Rouquette and Schiro. After the presentation and colors were retired, the young ladies waltzed with their uniformed escorts. Dinner then followed, as did more dancing, and jubilation reigned.<\/p>\nCotillion<\/h2>\n
The Hilton New Orleans Airport in Kenner was the site for the night when the New Orleans Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., held its 58th annual Debutante Cotillion. It was titled \u201cRoyal Affair; Crowning the Grace of Tomorrow\u201d and was decorated accordingly. Miss Anais En\u2019Vie Santemore<\/strong> wore the crown as the 2025 queen. She and her majesty of 2024, Gabrielle Marie Johnson,<\/strong> received bouquets of red roses from sorority president Tracey L. Rollins.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
Debutante Scholarships were awarded to queen Anais, Ava L\u2019Martha Atkins<\/strong> and Amari Arnell Dupree<\/strong>, while Escort Scholarships tapped Byron Keith Turner II<\/strong> and William Peoples III,<\/strong> the Most Cooperative Escort. The Jabberwock awardees were Bailee Evette Meredith<\/strong> (Most Cooperative Debutante), Willow Jani Wright<\/strong> and Miss Atkins. Angelle Monai Barrow<\/strong> was Miss Congeniality and Community Service awardee.<\/p>\nRoxanne Rankin Watts<\/strong> chaired the cotillion and Kathy Fields McLeod<\/strong> and Lacey Seals Smith<\/strong> co-chaired. Further notables were Pamela Moore Rogers, Margaret F. Washington, Gloria Bartley Moultrie, Sharon Canon, Rachel Mercadel, Pamela White, Leslie Howard, Rita B. Weary<\/strong> and Belencia Breaux.<\/strong> Adding musical glee was Renee Miller Dolliole<\/strong>, the featured soloist for Black Cat Productions, LLC, whose music infused the cotillion with decibel delights.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dreamy Lights and Dazzling Night The New Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundation themed \u201cLuces de Ensue\u00f1o en la Ceiba\u201d for the most recent Azucar Ball in the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. A black-tie gala, it was presented by Pan American Life Insurance Group and benefited the New Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundation Scholarship Program, which has Belinda […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2272398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2272397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Nell-Nolan-Azucar-Ball-Ball-of-1812-Delta-Sigma-Theta.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2272397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2272399,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2272397\/revisions\/2272399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2272398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2272397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2272397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2272397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}