Letter to the Editor

A couple points about the Red Hats

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Dear editor:

We would like to thank the Purple Gems Chapter of the Red Hat Society for hosting the 2014 Red Hat Funvention. They put in months of organizing and hours and hours of time and work to make this a very successful event.

Ladies came from distant places to enjoy not only the Funvention but also the hospitality of Mountain Home, both town and base. This small chapter did an incredible job, however, we of the Vivacious Violets Red Hat Chapter in Mountain Home would like to clarify two things.

The advance publicity for the Funvention portrayed it as a wild event where the participants just barely escaped arrest at the last Funvention held here. This was probably just said in jest, however it left an image of the coming Red Hat Funvention. We feel this was not appropriate and did not describe the actual event that was held or Red Hatters in general.

Several years ago, the Queen Mother of the National Red Hat Headquarters sent out a communication advising Red Hatters to conduct themselves as ladies, especially in public, as they are representatives of the society as a whole. Each chapter is autonomous with few guidelines but this is one of them. The reasoning behind the society was for women over 50 to have a place to go to make friends and have fun.

The second clarification was the reference of "Jane Hodges and Pat Eagley and three others getting together" and starting Red Hats in Mountain Home. In all fairness to Esther Fisher, it was her passion and foresight that were instrumental in starting the first Red Hat Chapter in Mountain Home, 11 years ago, "The Vivacious Violets." Within a few months the chapter grew too large and divided into four separate chapters and since that time others have also organized. This perhaps is a small detail but in memory of Esther: she was "THE RED HATTER" personified, credit needs to go to her for the Red Hat Society beginning in Mountain Home.

Again, thank you Purple Gems for taking on the herculean task of hosting a convention (Funvention). Some of us weren't up to the task.

Laurice Bentz, Queen Mother of Vivacious Violets

Gaylene Gries, Vice Queen of Vivacious Violets