Crystal Ball benefit returns with tropical theme

Dec. 23—It's a fundraiser that helps benefit the Permian Basin Rehab Center and it returns this month for its 61st edition with a bit of a Caribbean theme.

The Crystal Ball (put on by the Crystal Ball Foundation) will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 29 at the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Convention Center.

The theme for this year's ball is A Night in Old Havana.

"It's a tropical theme," Crystal Ball Board President Julie Marshall said. "The food and decorations will follow the theme. The Marriott has come up with a special menu for the evening."

Not only that, but the night will feature some jazz music.

"The band this year is the Jordan Kahn Orchestra from Dallas," Marshall said. The pre-music will feature some Cuban Jazz."

The event has taken place every single year since 1960 with one slight exception.

The ball was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic.

However, last year, the event was able to resume and Marshall is thankful for that.

"I'm really glad we're back to normal," Marshall said. "Some of these ladies and gentlemen are waiting to be asked to be debutantes so I'm glad that we were able to honor them but the most important thing is raising the funds for the Permian Basin Rehab Center for the commitment that we have for them. Without the ball, that would be very difficult for the Crystal Ball Foundation."

This year's debutantes are Aubree Barton, Aliete Brown, Sophie Dunn, Sydney Dunn, Hannah Gore, Madeline Hoffmann, Alyson Jaramillo, Logan Rose, Madilyn Smith, Victoria Sparkman, Kennedy Wiehle, Grace Wilkins, Lauren Wilkins and Hannah Williams.

This year's escorts include Corbyn Armstrong, Joshua Batte, Neri Carrasco, Conner Dobbs, John Fanous, Garrett Gray, Perry Grewell, John Melton, Zachary Robinson, Landon Satterwhite, Luke Sevcik and Nathaniel Weaver.

A lot goes into putting together the Crystal Ball each year.

"Every year of the Crystal Ball, it's broken down to a few different committees that take care of all the details of the ball like the decorations, the invites, the reservations, all of those," Marshall said. "No one can accomplish this event on their own. Right now, we have the parties going on for the debutantes and escorts. They have 20 parties that started on the 17th and they go through the 23rd and the kids are off for Saturday and Sunday. The parties resume on the 26th. They have a little over 20 parties in their honor. In between, they have rehearsals so they are really busy. They take the time to get to know each other in the events leading up to the ball."

Tickets and more information about this year's Crystal Ball can be found online at tinyurl.com/4va56mbr.

If you go

— What: Crystal Ball.

— When: 7 p.m. Dec. 29.

— Where: Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

— Where to purchase tickets: tinyurl.com/4va56mbr