On the day of romance last Saturday, the Hanover Charities Sugar Cane Ball hosted its 58th annual iteration, thematically christened ‘A Red Carpet Affair: A Valentine’s of Glitz and Glam’ at the cashmere-chic Round Hill Hotel and Villas.

Dinner jacketed, bow-tied gents mixed it up alongside ladies in runway labels from Hervé Léger, Dior to Gucci and Versace, with pre-dinner convo swirling around the fully stocked J Wray & Nephew bar on the oceanfront landing leading to the hotel’s lobby steps.

Post-cocktail hour, the Sugar Cane Ball’s guest list — a veritable collection of Round Hill’s habitués, the Second City power brokers, and shuttled-in guests from Tryall Club — took their seats for the Round Hill-catered, three-course dinner of smoked salmon strudel, braised beef short ribs and sorrel créme brûlée.

The evening boasted a well-received entertainment package that included a performance from Barbadian pop artiste Dwane Antonio, specially flown in for his Sugar Cane gig, as well as the Montego Bay-based Chokey Taylor and Band.

Hanover Charities Chairman Katrin Casserly told SO this year’s ball was the best-attended to date, with some 325 stylish guests in attendance. She expects that funds raised from the live auction (which also showcased bronze sculptures from Jamaican master artist Basil Watson) and paying patronage to exceed last year’s US$235,000, which each year benefits philanthropic projects in communities in the parish.

— Omar Tomlinson

What’s In A Ball?

Lots, it seems, especially when all the ingredients fall in place and the organisers get it right! Kudos to Katrin Casserly, chair, Hanover Charities, and Vice-Chair Jennifer Flanagan and fellow committee members on this latest iteration, an impressive 58th; and to each and everyone who has upped the ante each year, all for a worthy cause.

We certainly missed the Laurens this year due to New York Fashion Week, but the style quotient was very much on point: the theme — A Valentine’s of Glitz and Glam, the informative programmes, the décor complete with framed images of Old Hollywood screen stars — Thank you! The pages of the Style Observer are that much more fab as a result.

Noblesse oblige — to whom much is given much is expected — and giving back is what Round Hill Hotel & Villas Managing Director Josef Forstmayr does so effortlessly, handling the formalities with such aplomb and always looking at the glass as being half-full. It cannot be easy, dare we suggest, handling the global fabulocracy and The Rock’s movers and shakers all in one sitting — all on one night to boot! Forstmayr leads a team who steps up to the plate every time. I have to make mention here of the food & beverage team. You know you’re in culinary heaven when you’re one of the final few to dine and your silver slides with ease through the braised beef short ribs served with caramelised onion mashed potatoes, roasted tomato aioli in natural jus.

Excellence is in the details, and post-dinner drinks could easily have been had in the restrooms — pristine. So often we forget those in the shadows!

Sixty is on the horizon for Hanover Charities. Your guess is as good as mine as to what they’ll do for an encore. Might we humbly suggest that you make reservations early.

— NMW

For nearly 60 years Hanover Charities has been responsible for a multitude of projects, with special emphasis on health and education.

Hanover Charities is currently one of the largest charitable organisations in western Jamaica.

Some of the projects include:

Assisting 72 promising tertiary-level students in need of financial aid through the Morris-Watkins Memorial Scholarship.

Sponsoring the Cecile Clare Soup Kitchen of Love in Lucea serving over 700 people once a week.

Remedial and breakfast programmes in 11 schools.

An annual grant to the Westhaven Home for Disabled and Abandoned Children.

For more information go to www.hanovercharities.com