The theme for the 2006 Krew of Ceres Charity Ball was “BellaTuscany.”

Guests were greeted at the entrance of the Lincoln CountyMulti-Use Facility with Italian flags and a grapevine adornedarbor. After entering through an “aged” stone-encased cellar, abridge transported guests into an outdoor Tuscan gardensetting.

Lush greenery and iron candelabras and hand-dipped wine bottleswere combined with a beautiful turquoise-and-gold color scheme torepresent the simple beauty of the Italian countryside. Massivearrangements of giant sunflowers adorned the buffet tables.

The king and queen were seated on an ornate hand-carved bench infront of a mural resembling a Tuscan villa.

Margaret Allison Perkins

Continuing in a three-generation line of heritage and service inthe Krew of Ceres Charity Balls, Margaret Allison Perkins wascrowned queen on Saturday night.

Her grandmother, Betty Ann Perkins, her grandfather, BillPerkins, and her uncle, Thomas Perkins, are charter members of theKrew of Ceres. In 1971, her uncle Bill Perkins Jr. was an escort inthe royal court. Her father, Don Perkins was an escort in 1974. Hergreat-uncle, Thomas Perkins was the 1977 King. In 1989, hergrandmother, Betty Perkins, was the ball chairman and hergrandfather, Bill Perkins was crowned King. In 1994, reigning QueenAllison Perkins was the queen’s aide. In 1997, the queen’s mother,Teresa Perkins was the ball chairman. Her sister, Whitney Perkinswas the queen’s aide in 2003. Queen Allison Perkins was a maid inthe royal court in 2004, leading to her being crowned queen in this39th Charity Ball Royal Court of 2006.

Perkins was a special honor graduate of Brookhaven High Schoolwhere she was a member of the Academic Hall of Fame, National HonorSociety and National Vocational-Honor Society. She was involved inthe Key Club, Future Business Leaders of America, and alsoparticipated in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and FirstPriority. She was voted a Belle in Brookhaven’s High School’s Who’sWho. She was a Big Sister mentor and a Les Belles for theBrookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce. Her many academicawards in high school included Who’s Who Among American High SchoolStudents and awards for Latin II, Humanities II, Chemistry, WorldGeography, Biology. She was recognized for the President’sEducational Awards Program. A participant in the Lincoln County’sJunior Miss Program, Perkins was awarded both the Scholastic Awardand the “Has Been” award. The Brookhaven Trust and Arts Councilpresented Perkins the Certificate of Excellence in the Arts.

She was active in her youth group at First United MethodistChurch where she served as Senior High Youth Representative.

As a member of the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet Company,Perkins danced many lead roles during her seven years there. Sheeventually made her way to Senior Company as a principal. Hersenior year, she left the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet to joinBallet Magnificat, where she was accepted into the Juniorperforming company.

Perkins is a business administration major with a minor inmanagement at Belhaven College where she was accepted to attendtheir Honors Seminars and was the only freshman chosen toparticipate in the Bachelor’s of Ballet Program. She has been namedto both the Belhaven Dean’s List and the National Dean’s List. Shewas voted secretary of the Phi Beta Lambda Business Club and waschosen to be a Peer Leader to help aid in Freshman Orientation andserves on the Belhaven Activities Team to help plan and organizecampus activities, intramurals, and other social events. She hasparticipated in Student Missions Fellowship, DOXA DanceOrganization, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the BaptistStudent Union. She was chosen to be a Diamond Darling for theBelhaven Baseball Team and is a member of the Belhaven CollegeRepublicans. She also attends the First Baptist Church collegegroup Bible Studies in Jackson.

Bob Allen

As a young page in the 1957 Charity Ball, Bob Allen did notrealize the significance it would play in his life. In the fall of1966 when he was an escort, Allen met Patricia Black, who wasserving as a maid to the queen. Thus began a lifelong relationship.In 1967, Pat was crowned Queen of the Ball with Bob serving as herescort, and they announced their engagement to be married at the1968 event. Bob and Pat married the next year, but theirinvolvement with the ball did not end there. The tradition wouldcontinue when their daughter, Julie, would serve as an attendant tothe 1980 Queen, a maid in 1989, and Queen of the Ball in 1991.Their son, Will served as an escort in 1993. This year the Allenfamily came full circle as Pat, Julie and Will watched Bob becrowned King of the 2006 Charity Ball.

Born and reared in Brookhaven, Bob is the son of the lateEmmette and Gertrude Allen. He graduated from Brookhaven HighSchool, where he earned letters in football, baseball and track. Hewent to the University of Arkansas on an athletic scholarship, thentransferred to Mississippi College, where he graduated in 1969.Following in his father’s footsteps, he attended the University ofMississippi Law School and graduated in 1972. He clerked for theMississippi Supreme Court, returning to Brookhaven to practice lawwith his father with whom he formed the law firm of Allen &Allen in 1973. In 2001, his son, Will, returned to join thefirm.

The Allens have two children. Julie Allen Foncea, married to Dr.Pablo Foncea. They reside in Maryville, Tenn., with their twochildren, Jake and Janie. Their son, William Robert Allen, marriedJenny Mason, and they live in Brookhaven with their two children,Sam and Lucy.

Allen is the senior partner of Allen, Allen, Breeland &Allen and serves as retained attorney for the Lincoln County Boardof Supervisors and the Board of Trustees of the Brookhaven SchoolDistrict. He is a member of the the Lincoln County, Mississippi,Federal, and American Bar Associations and has served as a BarCommissioner with the Mississippi State Bar for three years, alsoserving on the Ethics Committee. A fellow in the Mississippi BarFoundation and is listed as a Preeminent Lawyer in Civil Litigationby Martindale-Hubbell.

Throughout the years Bob has been involved in theBrookhaven-Lincoln County community in a variety of ways. He is amember of First Baptist Church, where he has served as a deacon andtaught Sunday school. When his children were young, he coachedsoftball, B-Minor baseball, Little League baseball, and Pony Leaguebaseball. He was a Boy Scout leader, a member and President of theBrookhaven Kiwanis Club, the United Givers Fund, and theLincoln-Lawrence County Red Cross. He is presently a member of theBrookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce and on the AdvisoryBoard of Trustmark National Bank.

Bob has such a fondness of our community. When asked about it,he commented “The City of Brookhaven and Lincoln County have beenvery good to me and my family. I thoroughly enjoyed being raisedhere and raising my family here, and I now enjoy watching mygrandchildren being raised here.”