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“When I am old I shall wear purple, with a red hat....”

So begins Jenny Joseph’s popular poem, a piece which struck a chord with Sue Ellen Cooper about eight years ago. Cooper had purchased a jaunty red hat at a thrift store and hung it next to a framed version of that poem The Warning...gradually she and friends started getting together wearing red hats and having fun at luncheon...and, Cooper is now officially the “queen mother” of an organization that has grown into the international Red Hat Society.

A local chapter just held its second luncheon and is welcoming new members.

Judy Smallman of Forest Lake said she attended a Red Hat Society luncheon with a friend in the South Padre Island, Texas, area and she had a lot of fun.

She contacted some friends back here in Minnesota to get a group going, and recently about 10 showed up at Eichten’s Specialty Shop in rural Center City to enjoy lunch; sharing stories about their families, their travels and, of course, their red hats.

Smallman said the group gets together for lunch, it has no lofty goals other than to meet monthly for a local dining experience and good fellowship.

The ensemble makes for quite a visual feast, what with a variety of blazing red hats complimenting their purple outfits. (The rules call for anyone younger than 55 to wear lavender.)

The Red Hat Society has a little something to offer everyone. There are special ocean cruises for members, a quarterly newsletter is available and there is a graduate student doing a study of the group, seeking enclaves of the society who wish to volunteer. According to the website www.redhatsociety.org you can even shop for your red hat on-line if you want.

The next meeting of the local group is at Trapper’s in Chisago City, on Hwy. 8, July 15, for luncheon. Grab your red chapeau and a purple outfit and get in on the fun. If you are younger than 55 you are to wear lavender.

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