Red-hot celebration
Published Saturday November 1st, 2008
What could be nicer than sipping tea in a china cup while wearing a ball gown and lots of bling?
One hundred women, who are all members of the Red Hat Society, are doing that today in the city. Women are gathering from Woodstock, Perth-Andover, Geary and Fredericton.
The Johnston Avenue Senior Centre is a colourful scene. Everything - from the ladies' attire to the room's accoutrements - is awash in a sea of red and purple; the society's colours.
Ladies are nibbling on fancy sandwiches, sweets and other treats at this high tea. There's a tea-tasting table where you can sample several exotic teas.
When these ladies are out and about, they attract attention. Anyone who knows them, knows they are in it for the fun. They are being entertained by storyteller Joan Meade, playing games, winning prizes, singing songs and laughing the afternoon away.
There's also a huge birthday cake in the room. And, at every place setting, there is a tea cup with a frosted cupcake and candle inside.
It's a celebration of everyone in the room.
The planning of this day started last April. It's taken months to find gifts and prizes.
Linda Aucoin arrives in a pale purple gown with red and purple feathers in her hair.
She moved home from Ontario four years ago. She is also a member of Beta Sigma Phi.
The Red Hat Society is much like a sorority except everyone is welcomed rather than having to be voted into the organization, she says. It's so great, she says, to belong to an organization of kind, friendly, talented, interesting women who have so much in common.
There's nothing shy or retiring about these ladies and for good reason, says Aucoin.
"This is our last kick at the can. This is our last hoorah."
This is all about celebrating life and one another.
If you are a woman 50 or over and are looking for a good time, the Red Hat Society may be the group for you. Barb Young joined a chapter after she retired from her teaching career.
When she is with other red hatters, she says, she feels a lot like she did when she was a carefree young woman before work, marriage, children and all of life's responsibilities.
"It takes you back to that time. It's where you can let go of all of those things for a while."
If you are under 50 and still want to be involved the society will welcome you as a junior member known as a pink hatter.
Stephanie Young, who's 36, became a pink hatter when her mother joined the Red Hat Society. Today she is wearing a gorgeous dusty rose ball gown with a matching faux-fur wrap and a tiara.
Her mother is looking equally radiant in a sparkling red dress with a purple satin jacket.
Once a pink hatter turns 50 she is celebrated at what's called a 'redjulation' ceremony where red hatters welcome the woman to the other side of 50.
"When you turn 50, you shed a lot of things that you worried about as a younger person. Your mindset changes a wee bit.
"I think you get to the stage in your life when you say 'I'm going to think about myself,' which is really hard to do," says Young.
When she and other Red Hatters get together, they do let go of life's responsibilities and think about nothing but having fun. Good, clean fun, they say.
Debby Staples is Queen Plum, of the Passionate Plums, a Red Hat Society chapter she started five years ago.
Staples is looking every inch the monarch in her long, purple gown with a full-length red satin jacket trimmed in white faux-fur complete with a train.
Many of the ladies love to search for red and purple clothing at new-to-you stores.
Rosalie Clifford joined the Red Hat Society through friends.
She is so busy, she says, belonging to this society allows her to do nothing but relax and not worry about a thing. From her hat to her shoes she is dressed completely in red. The crimson outfit was purchased at a Red Hat Society fashion show, she recalls.
It's hard not to smile when you see these ladies looking so lovely in their over-the-top attire. Their joie de vivre is infectious. It's all about the love of life and laughter. Why not? they ask.
Indeed. Why not?
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