Red Hats rock Shelburne

May 15, 2014 · 0 Comments

Over 250 Red Hat ladies landed in Shelburne for a “Jailhouse Rock” themed event on May 10th at the Royal Canadian Legion. Decked out in 1950’s costumes and their famous purple and reds, the ladies lunched and danced the day away to the sounds of Elvis tribute artist Lance Dobinson and Collingwood band “Touch of Vinyl,” featuring Peak FM’s radio personality John Eaton.

This was the seventh year of the event, organized by Pazazz clothing store owner, Brenda Marshall and her daughter Beth Marie Baldwin. Brenda is the “Queen” of the Red Hat Chapter, the Collingwood ‘Coll’ Girls. The annual event started in 2007 as an “unbirthday party” in the tradition of Alice in Wonderland. There are actually two groups in Shelburne: The Fiddle Reds and the La Tea Das. The ladies came from all over Ontario, Saturday, as far away as Sudbury and Trenton, to join in the day’s rock and roll festivities.

The Red Hat Society (RHS), first started in 1998, has become a global phenomenon with 20,000 chapters in fifty U.S. states and more than thirty countries. It began with a simple afternoon tea in Fullerton, California when a woman named Sue Ellen Cooper shared a poem with friends that encouraged women to don a red hat and purple outfit in the face of getting older. The story appeared in Romantic Homes magazine in July 2000, and since then hundreds of news articles have spread this “light-hearted attitude toward aging” around the world.

According to the RHS website, the society is made of a diverse network of women, “approaching the age of 50 and beyond, that connects, supports and encourages women in their pursuit of fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment and fitness.” The group has a thriving social network supported by social media, broadcasts, and merchandise available through the Red Hat Society Store and select retailers, such as Brenda Marshall’s Pizzaz in Shelburne, which features a large selection of Red Hat clothing and millinery.

In full regalia, RHS members wear red hats and purple outfits if they are 50 years or older. Those members under 50 wear pink hats and lavender outfits. If that gets the ladies noticed, then they have accomplished a large part of their goal: to increase the visibility of, and respect for “women who are entering the next stage in life.”

Even the Smithsonian Institute has recognized the cultural impression of the RHS. In 2011, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History displayed the Red Hat Society’s first red hat and purple boa. In 2006, the New Denver Civic Theatre premiered “HATS!” the musical, and RHS Day is celebrated April 25th by official Chapters worldwide. If you are interested in knowing more about the RHS visit their website: redhatsociety.com

By Marni Walsh