The coronavirus couldn’t stop the annual Monmouth County Scholarship Cotillion, after organizers decided to hold the pageant outdoors for the first time in its 70-year-history.
Dozens gathered at Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank for a ball straight out of a scene from your favorite fairy tale. Only this was real life and each participant, young women dressed in elegant white gowns and young men wearing tuxedos, dressed up for scholarships and camaraderie. Everyone took their socially-distanced place on the stage, fashioned with red and white roses and a red carpet, overlooking the Navesink River.
Debutante Jameerah Whitley watches her escort who is her father Jason Whitley, get a flower pinned to his lapel prior to the start of the ceremony. The 70th Annual Monmouth County Scholarship Cotillion held at Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank. Saturday, July 25, 2020. Red Bank, NJ USA (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media) Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media
The cotillion’s main focus is preparing young people for adulthood, requiring participants to learn about formal wear, and display achievements in education and community service. Participants, or debutantes and escorts as they are called, also learned about etiquette, presentation, poise, public speaking, career competency, mentorship, and coaching during a four-month intensive program.m
Scholarship King and Queen status was awarded to the participants with the highest S.A.T. scores; this year, Tony Owens and Brianna Argant of Neptune High School.
Debutante Shamarraa Dudley is presented by escort Garrick Cotman. She attended Long Branc High School and will attend the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Psychology on the Pre-Med tack. The 70th Annual Monmouth County Scholarship Cotillion held at Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank. Saturday, July 25, 2020. Red Bank, NJ USA (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media) Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media
The Monmouth County Scholarship Cotillion started as a fundraiser for the local YMCA in 1950, aiming to highlight the accomplishments of minority youth in the area, at a time when segregation was still legally enforced in parts of the U.S.
But 70 years later, the initial purpose has not been lost.
“Our image as an African American people has been heavily influenced by media perceptions of us, by accounts of incidents that are oftentimes portrayed to reflect our entire race,” said the cotillion’s organizer and host, Yvonne Grayson.
This year’s pageant comes on the heels of social unrest over police brutality and race relations.
“One of the things that we find important this year is to show America, to show this community that the majority of our youth...are achieving. They are trying to go to college, and we owe it to them to help them do that,” she said.
Yvonne Grayson (right) at the Monmouth County Cotillion in 1979.
Grayson, the cotillion’s general chair, also participated in the pageant in the 1970s. Her mom, who died earlier this year, dedicated 60 years of her life to helping run it. It meant a lot to her, she said, for the show to happen safely, even amid a pandemic.
“This event has happened every year for seventy years and we were determined that, even with COVID, to find a way and we’re just happy that we were able to do that,” Grayson said.
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Tennyson Donyèa may be reached at tcoleman@njadvancemedia.com.
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