Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafström and Eva Hafström
Location: Embassy residences and the Meridian House
WL SPONSORED – Photos By Tony Powell
THE BALL: Ambassadors from more than 30 countries turned out for the 40th annual Meridian Ball, which raised more than $900,000 to benefit Meridian International Center initiatives to promote global understanding. Known for an attractive younger crowd with distinctly international flavor, the evening began with private dinners at embassy residences followed by desserts and dancing in two separate spaces – fox trots and rhumbas inside and a Motown band under a tent on the lawn. The linden trees were glowing with light in the pebbled courtyard, and the gift bags included leather passport cases and tips on cross-cultural communication – perfect accessories for the cosmopolitan traveler.
THE GUESTS: Sen. Patrick Leahy, Chief of Protocol Nancy Brinker, Walt and Didi Cutler, Bret and Amy Baier, Grace and Morton Bender, and the ambassadors of Mexico, Spain, India, Japan, Switzerland, Chile, and Lebanon.
