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The doings of the Aussie Wandering Red Hatters who are red hatted Australian ladies of the nomad persuasion
Many years ago I read in a magazine a wonderful poem called "Warning" by a poet named Jenny Joseph I was captured by the feeling of the poem which resonated with my own feelings. Some time later I picked up a little poetry book which happened to have the same poem in it which struck me as being an amazing co-incidence. The poem starts
"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me".
Last year, I was visiting my daughter in San Francisco and she took me to afternoon tea at the Palace Hotel in the city to celebrate my birthday. I noticed a group of ladies also having afternoon tea all dressed in purple with red hats. I remarked on this to my daughter and she said "Haven't you heard of the Red Hat Society, an organisation for ladies over fifty who just want to have fun?"
When I got back to Australia, I received a parcel organised by my daughter from Fullerton, California, the headquarters of the Red Hat Society containing a red hat and a book explaining all about the Society.
I was really happy to get this surprise gift and told a friend who was staying with us at the time. She poured cold water on the idea saying "A lady bored us to tears talking about the Red Hat Society at a motorhome mini rally last year." This dash of negativity put quite a chill on my enthusiasm.
Recently, I took my red hat and the book to the motorhome rally in Mudgee and introduced the idea to my wonderful friend, Helene Procter, who was so captivated by the idea that she immediately spread the word among the ladies of our group and by morning tea a couple of days later, we had more than twenty ladies all decked out in red hats and purple tops at a celebration gathering.
We were approached by a lady who was already a member of a Red Hat Society chapter in Townsville and I discovered that she was the lady who had "bored us to tears" at the mini rally. She was a lovely lady and immediately set about encouraging us to become red hatters.
She was so impressed by the enthusiasm of our group that she joined our motorhomers chapter.
I decided to register the group with the Red Hat Society and I am now officially the Queen of the Aussie Wandering Red Hatters, chapter number 70901 of the Red Hat Society.