Red Hat Society Starting to Spread

By Janie Bush

July 16, 2004

The Red Hat Society Club has really started to spread. Some of the Eads ladies attended the luncheon in Lamar July 3rd. Janie Bush and her sister, Maria Campos, from Pryor, Oklahoma, along with Sis Howard, Donna Owens and Loretta Siebel had a lot of fun attending.

There is a group of ladies that meet in Lamar the first Saturday of every month at 10:30 a.m. at the Truck Plaza for a luncheon and a good time. Judy Douglass started the Red Hat Society Club in Lamar and since she started the group she is known as the Queen Mother. Seems like we might have several women in town that would be interested in attending a luncheon. It looks as if we might end up with a group ourselves.

Let me tell you what The Red Hat Society Club is about for some of you that might not know. The Red Hat Society began as a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verse, humor and elegance. They believe silliness is the comedy relief of life, and since they are all in it together, they might as well join red-gloved hands and go for the gusto together. Underneath the frivolity, they share a bond of affection, forged by common life experiences and a genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes them next. There are no official rules, although they have some rather strong suggestions, the first of which is regarding red hat attire. Of course, to be a Red Hatter, one should wear a red hat and a clashing purple ensemble at all meetings to keep the spirit and purpose of the (dis) organization. They also suggest rather strongly that women under 50 stick to the pink hat and lavender attire until THE BIRTHDAY. This adds an element of fun to aging, which we think is invaluable to women in our society who have learned to dread aging and avoid it at all costs. They believe that aging should be something anticipated with excitement, and not something to dread.

Anyone is welcomed to come to these meetings and if you would like to attend the one being hosted by Janie Bush at her home, please feel free to call her for the date and time. You must RSVP since seating is limited. You can RSVP by calling her at 729-3543. Also if you are in need of a red hat she can help you with that. Below are The Ode to The Red Hat Society and The Red Hat Society Poem.

A poet put it very well. She said when she was older,

She wouldn't be so meek and mild. She threatened to get bolder.

She'd put a red hat on her head, and purple on her shoulder.

She'd make her life a warmer place, her golden years much golder.

We read that poem, all of us, and grasped what she is saying.

We do not need to sit and knit, although we all are graying.

We think about what we can do. Our plans we have been laying.

Instead of working all the time, we'll be out somewhere playing.

We take her colors to our hearts, and then we all go shopping

For purple clothes and hats of red, with giant brims a-flopping.

We're tired of working all the time, and staying home and mopping.

We order pies and chocolate fudge, and rich desserts with topping.

We crown ourselves as duchesses and countesses and queens.

We prove that playing dress-up isn't just for Halloween.

We drape ourselves in jewels, feathers, boas, and sateen.

We see ourselves on television and in magazines.

We laugh, we cry, we hug a lot. We keep each other strong.

When one of us goes out for fun, the rest all go along.

We gad about, we lunch and munch, in one big happy throng.

We've found the place where we fit in, the place we all belong.

When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple

with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired

and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

and run my stick along the public railings

and make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

and pick the flowers in other people's gardens

and learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

and pay our rent and not swear in the street

and set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.