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Pandemic can’t stop Red Hats from having fun

Brenda Sharp, Lisa Pepperman, Fran Burdett, Julie Vanderlinde, Carol Bannister, Laudi Sutton and Catherine Edwards enjoy their first meeting since the start of the pandemic.
Brenda Sharp
Brenda Sharp, Lisa Pepperman, Fran Burdett, Julie Vanderlinde, Carol Bannister, Laudi Sutton and Catherine Edwards enjoy their first meeting since the start of the pandemic. (Photos supplied)

The Red Hat Society is a movement of women determined to celebrate every stage of life, and those in St. Davids are doing just that.

The organization connects women and gives them new and exciting ways to gather.

The intent of the group is to gather women who have given their all to their family, career and community, and forgotten to take time for themselves. All of us need an occasional “recess” from the cares and duties of everyday life for no other purpose than to have fun with like-minded women.

The Red Hat Society ladies are known for their fun, and unusual red hats which are worn at every gathering, along with purple clothes. The idea was originally inspired by a well-known Jenny Joseph poem, Warning, which begins, “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple, with a red hat which doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.”

Women from all over bought purple outfits and red hats and held a tea party in the U.S. on April 25, 1998, at which time the Red Hat Society began.

Thanks to the pandemic, our Red Hat Society ladies of St. Davids had not met for our monthly luncheon for four months.

However, we decided in July we could gather safely, adhering to physical distancing rules, and enjoyed a Hawaiian-themed picnic outside our community centre at Creekside Senior Estates, where they all reside.

Three of the ladies performed Hawaiian songs on their ukuleles, and all of us had a friendly little hula dance contest.  

Red Hat “Queen” Catherine Edwards demonstrated a quick and easy way to core and cut a pineapple.

My husband, Bryan Sharp, donned a Moana Maui-themed costume to make and serve beverages to the ladies.

After enjoying a picnic lunch of fried chicken, salads and desserts, the ladies posed while holding Stop-It Coffee for a Cause, to help my fundraising efforts to promote research for a cure for Trigeminal Neuralgia, a disease which I suffer from.

We are all looking forward to their next luncheon. We are not sure where it will be, but we do know for sure, it will be fun!

The Red Hat ladies purchased Stop-It Coffee for a Cause, to help Brenda Sharp's fundraising efforts to promote research for a cure for Trigeminal Neuralgia.
Three Red Hat ladies perform Hawaiian songs on their ukuleles, while the others enjoyed a friendly hula dance contest