Debutante balls have a rich history in the region with most secondary schools organising a ball each year for year 11 students.

Although the balls have evolved and modernised over the years, their significance in the lives of the young people who participate in them is everlasting.

When Edenhope College didn't plan a debutante ball for 2019, year 11 student Georgia Baxter took it upon herself to organise the special night.

"The last deb ball at the college was three or four years ago. I saw other schools doing their debs, and I wanted to have a go and do it myself," she said.

"The school told me they didn't have adequate supervision to run one so I had to do it myself."

Related: Roy and Thelma Henwood helped keep the debutante tradition alive

The ball was open to students in years 11 and 12, meaning about 20 people were eligible. A total of 12 people - or six couples - signed up for the ball.

"We had a few more girls interested, but there was definitely a lack of male partners," she said.

Needing someone to train them to dance, Georgia approached long-time Horsham debutante trainer Jan Morris and asked for her assistance. Couples learned six traditional dances for the night.

"Dancing and going to dances has gone out of fashion a bit, so it's nice to be able to learn how to dance and have one special night," Georgia said.

"I haven't had anything to do with dancing in the past, and there was only one girl who had dance experience. It was nice to be able to learn something that isn't very popular in Edenhope."

The ball was at the Apsley Town Hall on March 29. Georgia said it was a very special night for herself and her fellow students.

"It was a pretty good feeling to bring it back. I hope that it will come back to the school, but I don't know if I can see it happening. I think because I organised this one that someone else will step up and organise one as well," she said.

Jan Morris has been an essential part of debutante balls in Horsham since 1993. She said helping Georgia organise Edenhope College's 2019 ball was one of the highlights of her training career.

"I just loved the way Georgia handled it all; we thoroughly enjoyed doing it. It was one of the highlights of my probably 50-plus deb balls that I've trained," she said.

Each year she trains students from Horsham College, St Brigid's College in Horsham, Horsham Special School and Holy Trinity Lutheran College. Some of the students she taught in the 1990s now have children of their own who are doing their debutante balls.

Mrs Morris said her late husband Richard was her own debutante ball partner in 1958 when she was 16. The couple married in 1963.

She said debutante balls had evolved and modernised over the years.

"It's a very special event and for the girls, in particular, it gives them a chance to dress up. Also being able to do it together as a group is special," she said.

"They really enjoy presenting themselves to their family and friends. I've never had someone say they regret doing their ball; rather they say it will be something they will remember for the rest of their lives.

"Because dance bands for formal balls are not easy to find now, for the first time at Horsham College's ball we used all recorded music. It's become more of a norm across all balls. The meaning is quite different now. It's an event in their lives that they won't forget."

She said she had a succession plan in place for when she did decide to step down from debutante ball training.

Related: Horsham Special School hosts first debutante ball

Horsham's Holy Trinity Lutheran College will host its 2019 college ball on Friday, with nine year 11 couples participating.

Head of senior school Sally Kuchel said this was the second year the college would host a ball. The school welcomed its first year 11 students in 2018.

"It was something that had been exploring for a while leading up to the year 11 students starting; we were looking at what other schools were doing and at the format that it would take," she said.

"We also decided to title it a college ball, rather than debutante ball, and it's just evolved to the needs of the group. It is a really special time for them to present to family and friends, and move into that next stage of young adulthood.

"It also provides an opportunity for the students to strengthen the relationships within their cohort. At the start, some of them are a bit hesitant to do ballroom dancing, but by the end they love it.

"For many of them this could be the only chance they get to learn ballroom dancing as a skill."

Related: Holy Trinity Lutheran College hosts first ever ball for its Year 11 students

Holy Trinity Lutheran College year 11 student Jemma Nagorcka said she only had a little bit of dance experience before getting involved in her school's ball.

"My sister went on about how amazing her night was, so I knew I wanted to do mine. Bonding with the year level has been really good. I've enjoyed it a lot," she said.

"To me, it's a night where it's all about the fun. You feel like you've grown up, you're not a kid anymore and you're recognised as a lady. I know I've become more mature, but it feels like the others have, too.

"I think the meaning has changed over the years, because society has changed a lot."

Year 11 student Sam Hobbs said he joined the ball for the social aspect.

"I thought it would be a good thing to get involved with; something you can do with your friends. I watched my sister do hers and knew it was something that I'd be interested in doing, too," he said.

Sam's grandmother Dawn Hobbs is a renowned old-time dancer and helped train deb sets in the Wimmera.

"She's really excited and is going to my ball. I don't know whether she will do a dance with me, but my mum was pretty keen for that to happen," he said.

Mrs Hobbs said she had fond memories of her own debutante ball.

"I lived in the country and couldn't get into practice. I had to learn at barn dances and save up money during the war years," she said.

"The first deb set I trained was with Joyce Wirth when we were only in our early 20s. We did it at Sailors Home Hall and it gave country girls the chance to do their debut with a big success."

Mrs Hobbs said it was important to keep debutante balls alive in the Wimmera.

"It gives them a chance to learn to dance. I love seeing the smiles on their faces as they accomplish their dances. It seems to give them a new confidence, mixing together and building new relationships," she said.

All nine of Mrs Hobbs' children did their debutante balls - some even twice. Now her 31 grandchildren are making their rites of passage.

Sunnyside Lutheran Retirement Home residents Ercyl Robertson and Shirley Shipham, both 91, said they still had fond memories of their debutante balls in the early 1940s.

They said the significance of a debutante ball was to present a young woman into society.

Mrs Robertson was 17 when she did her ball at the Balmoral Mechanics Hall while Mrs Shipham was 18 when she participated in hers, which was at the Horsham Town Hall and organised through the RSL.

Mrs Shipham said there were some challenges to having a debutante ball during wartime.

"All the men were away at war and during wartime you had to buy all materials through coupons. So we had mosquito netting made into our frocks because that was what we were able to get with our coupons," she said.

Mrs Robertson said her dress was store-bought but very basic. Both women said they carried red geraniums during their presentations.

The tradition of the time saw the women ask men to be their debutante partners. Mrs Shipham's partner was Peter Handby, while Mrs Robertson asked her cousin Sidney Rees to be her partner.

"Sidney had just come out from from Argentina. He had to drive me in 20 or 30 miles to deb practice. He only spoke Spanish, so I had to try to translate for him when we were learning the dances," Mrs Robertson said.

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