ROSSMOOR RED HATTERS
AS OF AUGUST 2005 THE ROSSMOOR RED HATTERS CLUB EMERGED!
Queen Mother, Ruth Koehler moved to Rossmoor in March of 2005 and discovered that a Red Hat Society chapter was never formed in Rossmoor and she was determined to start one. Her dream was that someday Rossmoor Red Hatters would fill the Fireside Room at Gateway. She recruited a very talented group of newcomers who met to lay the groundwork. A short article in the Rossmoor News and a registration table at the annual Rossmoor Activities Council day, generated a number reservations for the first luncheon held at the Dollar Clubhouse in October 2005. The monthly luncheons are now held in the Fireside Room at Gateway.
The sucess of Rossmoor Red Hatters is due not only to the talent and dedication of many Rossmoor Red Hatters who keep the ball rolling, but also to the popularity of the world-wide Red Hat Society, started by Exalted Queen Mother, Sue Ellen Cooper.
How It All Started............
"The Red Hat Society began as a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and elan. We believe silliness is the comedy relief of life, and since we are all in it together, we might as well join red-gloved hands and go for the gusto together. Underneath the frivolity, we share a bond of affection, forged by common life experiences and a genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes us next."
Rossmoor's Queen Mother - Ruth Koehler and Family
Four Generations of Family and Happy Faces!
The Queen Mother of the
Official Red Hat Society is:
Sue Ellen Cooper
While visiting a friend in Tucson several years ago. Sue Ellen impulsively bought a bright red fedora at a thrift shop, for no other reason than that it was cheap and thought quite dashing. A year or two later she read this poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph, which depicts an older woman in purple clothing with a red hat. Sue Ellen felt an immediate kinship with Ms. Joseph. She decided that her birthday gift to her dear friend, Linda Murphy, would be a vintage red hat and a copy of the poem. She has always enjoyed whimsical decorating ideas, so she thought the hat would look nice hanging on a hook next to the framed poem. Linda got so much enjoyment out of the hat and the poem that Sue Ellen gave the same gift to another friend, then another, then another.
One day it occurred to these friends that they were becoming a sort of "Red Hat Society" and that perhaps they should go out to tea...in full regalia. They decided they would find purple dresses which didn't go with their red hats to complete the poem's image. The tea was a smashing success.
Soon, each of them thought of another woman or two she wanted to include, and they bought more red hats. Their group swelled to 18, and they began to encourage other interested people to start their own chapters.(18 women don't fit well around a tea table). One of their members passed along the idea to a friend of hers in Florida, and their first "sibling" group was born.
Sue Ellen's fondest hope is that these societies will proliferate far and wide. We have now held three successful Red Hat Society conventions--entire hotels filled with women of a certain age wearing red hats and purple outfits! Could world domination be far behind?
Want to become a member? Monthly articles in the Rossmoor News or click on link How to Join? We would love to have you!
Web Design, Marie Klos
