WEAR YOUR COLORS!! A well behaved woman seldom makes history!
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EMAIL ME HERE!:
-LINDA QUEEN SHADY LADYBUG
:
-CYNTHIA LADY "SIN"THIA
-JAN LADY BOND-A-LOT
-ALICE LADY CAMPY
MARCIA LADY CHAT-A-LOT
Members:
-ELSIE LADY DIVINE BOVINE
:
-JIMMIE LADY FISH HOOKER
-GLORIA LADY GLORIOUS
-GIOVANNA LADY GO-A-LOT
-IDA LADY GODIDA MAY
-CHAR LADY HAPPY HARBIN
Members:
-JOANNE LADY JO-JO
-RUTH S. LADY LIZ TAYLOR
:
-PAT R. LADY LUSH LOCKS
-MARY LADY MARY MARY HARTMAN
-SUZANNE S. LADY POLLY WANNA CRACKER
-PEGGY LADY ROUND HOLE SQUARE PEG
-RUTH LADY RUTHLESS
Members:
-JOAN LADY SING-A-LOT
:
-WENDY LADY SOUL MENDER
-SUZANNE O. LADY SUZIE SNAPSHOT
Members:
-LINDA LADY SWINGER
:
-JANET LADY VIBRATIONS (VICE MOTHER)
-VI LADY VIVACIOUS
-HEIDI LADY WANT-A-LOT
JANE LADY NOT SO PLAIN
-RONI LADY FOXY
Members:
-IMOGENE LADY COCA
PAST EVENTS
YOU'LL WISH YOU'D WENT!
|
|
LADYBUG LINDA WISHES SHE HAD BEEN THERE!
I wasn't just playing hooky...HONEST!
This photo was November
2004, when our chapter went to Lakeport English Inn.
Here we are on the front porch.
Our original Vice Mother Georgia
is 2nd from right, and I am on the far left! As you can see,
none of the original members in this photo are still members.
How quickly life changes!
Nov. 2004 High Tea at the
Lakeport English Inn.
Pictured left to right are
myself, and Pat Reed and Marcia, who are the only
charter members still in our group.
THE HIGH TEA CHAPTER EVENT
FIFTIES SOCK HOP on April 22nd.........
TO READ THE POEM I WROTE ABOUT THE DANCE EVENT
April 24, 2006
The male winner of BEST FIFTIES COSTUME was a tie
In recouping all the monies, the income and debits,
The way I have figured, we'll have $177 Lady Ruthless also helped by manning
I donated $100 also, but it was my little folly It was not meant to be a FUNDRAISER anyway,
Of course, there were lots of other donations, food, prizes, labor of
We pre-sold a lot of tickets and also had some
I'll be putting our financial report
The grand prize, a $65 gift certificate
My husband Stew took a video of all of the performances,
Giovanna has 4 cans of chili beans left that were
Someone left a lovely red cape at the Masonic Lodge,
We had some difficulty before 6pm The person in charge, Richard Gorman,
The cleaning crew, Carol's Cleaning Service, gave us
I will be writing a storyline of how much fun the event was, for the newspaper, Everyone, get your act together for next year,
It was so fun and I believe everyone truly had
Sincerely,
The chapter called Clear Lake Minnow-Pausers in the city of Clearlake, has a membership of 30 ladies from 51 to 89, formed by their Queen Mum (Queen Shady Ladybug) Linda Stewart in 2004.
Along with the help of her Vice Mother, Janet King (Lady Vibrations), and the hands on help of all the members, the sock hop dance was a wonderful, feel-good event. The evening began with The Singing DJ, Gary Carnes, spinning discs and singing all the favorite tunes from the fabulous fifties.
For all of us who grew up in the 1950’s,
All tables were filled at The Masonic Lodge hall that night, including the dance teachers, Daddy-O Bill and his wife Lady Swinger (Linda Jensen) with their crew of Serenity Place Swing dancers, who taught the attendees some new Swing Dance steps.
Bill Jensen was voted male Best Dressed 50’s costume
An out of town winner snagged first prize in the Name That Tune contest, winning a gift certificate from Chez Char Salon in Clearlake for a complimentary massage, facial or haircut, and Char won a second prize of white fur dice for her rear view mirror.
Elvis posters and classic car posters and a classic Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel poster decorated the room, along with many beautiful red hats that were taken off that night. The gals let their hair down and put it up into pony tails instead of hats.
Poems from the old Burma Shave signs that used
The Flying Purple People Eater, created by Sheb Wooley, danced in full costume playing Rock and Roll music through the horn in her head. Red Hatter Wendy Dalton was the mystery performer of that one.
The Jailhouse Rock Dancers, four red hatters, performed a dance skit to the famous Jailhouse Rock by Elvis and local singer/songwriter, Joan Moss, delighted everyone with her performance of her original song, Prelude II, which compares a vibrator to a man, and the man comes out the loser.
“How Many Frogs?” must a poor girl kiss…written by Queen Shady Ladybug was performed as a duet with Joan Moss, and ended with the frog prince bowing at her knee for a kiss. Sexy Sara from Carolina (former owner of the Paw Wash in Clearlake) crooned a favorite old fifties tear jerker, “Since I Fell For You”, with standing ovations.
Not to be outdone, the Kazoo Khorus, comprised of 11 red hatters, performed a round of Row Row Your Boat with their kazoos, the official musical instrument of the Red Hat Society.
The DJ kept the crowd rocking all evening as they danced The Bunny Hop, The Hokey Pokey, The Swing, The Birdie, The Stroll and The Chicken dance. There was one mystery at cleanup time! We’ve all heard of dancing your socks off, but the mystery was someone had evidently danced their senior Depends diapers off in the middle of the dance floor! Did they laugh so hard they wet their pants and left them behind? (Later, it was determined that it was the DJ’s Pomeranian dog that lost the diaper there).
There were two huge Red Hat Society birthday cakes, deliciously prepared by Toni’s Bakery in Clearlake, to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the now worldwide organization, which is officially April 25, 1998.
Without the help of the hardworking red hatters to pull this together, we all would have been stuck in the present, instead of stuck in the fifies that night. Special thanks go to the many ladies who brought their delicious homemade salads and snacks, and who worked setting up and cleaning up, and decorating.
Next year, there is a dance contest planned and a hula hoop contest, along with a surprise visit from comedienne Couch Potato Patsy.
……..AND REMEMBER….. “A beard that’s rough and overgrown, is better than a chaperone”, according to Burma Shave, and “When super-shaved, remember Pard, You’ll get slapped, But not as hard”……. Hey, next year, the DUKE OF EARL might even show up and Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife has been invited to be our security guard. Aunt Bea from Mayberry can bring some of her famous fried chicken.
. Put your pedal to the metal, agitate the gravel, but be sure to get there next year for the second annual dance.
NOTES TO MYSELF!
The 4 dancers met at 9am for practice at the lodge (Char, Janet, Alice & me).
Those who showed up to help were Char, Janet, Alice, Ida, Gloria, Heidi, Jane, Lynne (9 of us counting me).
I need to phone the head guy, Richard Gorman, who rented us the Masonic Lodge and ask him where the supplies are for the bathroom;
Actually, it was a false alarm! When I rechecked after Char had checked and said there were no supplies, I found plenty in the men's room, and we are all set on that one!
THE MONTHLY BREAKFAST AT MAIN STREET CAFE WAS APRIL 18th...At least 20 ladies showed up and we made our last plans for the April 22 FIFTIES SOCK HOP!
APRIL 12, WEDNESDAY - NOON – PARK STUDY CLUB LUNCHEON,
As reported by member Lady Double D (Lynne), there was a buffet salad bar and dessert all for $6.00, which included potato, macaroni, cabbage wtih apple and beets, a corn salad with onion, cheese, mashed corn ships; a broccoli salad, tossed green salad, carrot salad, spinach leaves, deviled eggs, olives, pickles,and marinated artichoke hearts. A couple of salads I couldn't name but ate and were they GREAT!! And, I can't tell you the last time I was served coffee or tea in cup AND SAUCER!!! I felt like a LADY!!!!!
On the down side, the so-called dessert bar did NOT include any chocolate! There were various types of Jello type desserts though.
APRIL 4, TUESDAY – 10 am Kazoo Kontest practice There 10 of us practicing our Kazoo song, doing a round of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". Lady Suzanne (Polly Wanna Cracker) volunteered to be our conductor, since she admitted she is tone deaf as far as staying on key.
OUR ST. HATRICK'S DAY event
MARCH 22, WEDNESDAY - The ST. PATRICK'S DAY
The food prepared by the Elks Lodge crew was
First they served a gorgeous salad
The tables had green glitter and chocolate mint
We had a new potential member today, who What A GREAT CELEBRATION! Those who attended were, Giovanna, Ruth, Suzanne O. Elsey, Wendy D., Alice, Janet, Char, Mary P.,
MARCH 7 BREAKFAST AT MAIN STREET CAFE! DAMN, I WISH I HAD BEEN THERE!!!!!!!!!(Anywhere but court, where I was!) I really, really wanted to see everyone's photos when they were teens...Which is just WHY I thought up the game!!
Lady Double D (Lynn) did report to me so here is her email she sent to me.
Breakfast was spectacular!! Almost thirty ladies!!!Heidi and Jane
We sold a bunch of Kazoos, at $1.00 (Linda has a CD of the song,
Lady Ruthless brought the new Name tag buttons
We talked about the dance and
I feel strongly that we need
NICE REPORT, LADY DOUBLE D, AND THANK YOU, We will get the keys to the Masonic Lodge
IT'S GONNA BE A BLAST FROM
FEBRUARY 24th, FRIDAY,we went to KONOCTI BLUES CAFE.........an event planned for us by Lady Happy Harbin,
The food was gourmet good (I had lamb, rice, asparagus, and a great baby
We had a swinging time and Char furnished dessert for our crowd of 16.....
There's a nice smoking deck with tables She even did a raffle, which Suzanne won, but I He turned 60 today, and doesn't
Don't you wish you had been there????
FEB. 17, FRIDAY EVENING VALENTINE DINNER DANCE!.... at the Rancho de la Fuente in Lakeport was very disappointing to me!
After about 1/2 hour, with no water or anything served, and no cocktails available, the two instructors called everyone up in a circle to learn The Salsa.
We all tried; my husband couldn't catch on, but I thought it was fun, but then we sat down, as my shoes were killing me, and we waited, waited and waited.
It was also COLD in their yuppy barn, although they did have some of those large outdoor space heaters in there.
Well, what can I say? I can do the Salsa now, but my partner can't so what good is it to me? Ha ha ha. Ya gotta laugh. This one I'll call THE QUEEN'S FOLLY. ......So far, it has been the least attractive and least enjoyable adventure we have had thus far. That's just my opinion, but I would rather have eaten at Taco Bell.
FEBRUARY 14th VALENTINE'S DAY... Konocti Kuties invited our
MONTHLY BREAKFAST AT EL GRANDE INN
We discussed the upcoming FIFTIES DANCE planned for April 22, to celebrate the birthday of the Red Hat Society! We chose a SONG for the Kazoo Kontest which will be part of the Fifties Dance, the song being BEEP BEEP, THE LITTLE NASH RAMBLER. I ordered enough kazoos for all members and will collect for them at our next breakfast. Lady Happy Harbin has volunteered to do one of her famous dance routines for the audience at the Fifties Dance! More on this later.
Also, we discussed ordering of our name badges at $2.00 each. After the breakfast, a small group stayed behind and we played MEXICAN DOMINOES. I enjoyed it a lot, and we talked about a regular monthly game... DOUGHNUTS & DOMINOES DAY in the future.
JANUARY 29, Sunday
David Neft and Samaya were the opening performance for this event,
The Clear Lake Minnow-Pausers that attended
We all had our typical purple clothes
Maybe I kind of broke the ice by reading
The poems and music finished up about 5:30pm,
We should have all done like Char and ordered
Hope you all enjoyed the day!!! I know HAPPY HATTING, AND SEE YOU AT THE NEXT EVENT!
JANUARY 24, Tuesday - BREAKFAST at MAIN STREET CAFE - was at 10am as usual. There were 17 of us, along with a two guests, which made a total of 19 silly ladies being loud and having fun!
Ended up there were only 3 that wanted to stay behind at noon and play some Mexican Train Dominoes, which is not enough players, so we will try again next month after breakfast.
Bring 50 cents of pennies and also one dollar to put in the pot. Winner takes the dollar pot, loser takes the penny pot at the end.
Yes, he's an imposter, but Michael Albert did a terrific tribute
The concert started at 9pm, and we met
Our Vice Mother, Lady Vibrations (Janet) was
Some of the ladies did not dine with
We met at 11am in the POW WOW with
I took several hats and shoes, and ended up with
Those from my chapter who attended were my daughter Sara, as my guest (from No. Carolina), Giovanna, Ruth M., Suzanne, and maybe some others, and maybe I forgot to list them.
There were 20 ladies in attendance: Janet, Char, Ida, Cynthia, Alice, Joanne, Jimmie, Jan. B., Giovanna, Vi, Wendy, Ruth, Gloria, Mary S., Suzanne, Bertie, Ruth S., Marcia, Pat R., and myself.
We had feast and fun until 3:30pm on an otherwise dismal rainy day. We made our own kind of Red Hat sunshine!
NOVEMBER 26, SATURDAY – DICKEN’S CHRISTMAS MARKET
We were supposed to meet at 2pm in front of Ashley's Restaurant on Main Street, but I was late, and I later determined there were only 2 or 3 other chapter members that were able to make this one.
My daughter Jetta and I strolled the streets and shopped at all the booths looking for bargains, and we bought a dozen of the Crispy Creme doughnuts from Giovanna's booth, although she was not there. This was a benefit for an Alzheimer's Support Group that she volunteers for in Lucerne.
OUR NOVEMBER 15 –TUESDAY LUNCHEON at ROBINSON RANCHERIA in Nice, was just wonderful. This event was hosted by the KONOCTI KUTIES (Queen Pat McIvor and her Vice Queen Kim, who did a wonderful job!
Most of us arrived between 11:15 and 11:30am for the social hour and the food served at noon was terrific. A buffet consisting of Chicken Parmesan, vegetarian lasagne, caesar salad, vegetables, penne pasta, and there was a very tasty chocolate mousse pie! I was trying to "diet" and saved mine, and took it to Char afterward, since she had to work in her beauty shop. Queen Pat held a 50/50 raffle of which the two winners got $41.50 cash each, and the 3rd winner (Lady Double D Lynne) won the Safeway turkey certificate. Since she had already bought a turkey for Thanksgiving, I ended up buying her certificate for $5.00 which reimbursed her for her raffle ticket purchase, and I lucked out getting a turkey for $5.00
Those attending today were myself, Janet, Jan B., Lynne, Giovanna, Ruth, Jane, Heidi, Elsie, Marcia, Pat R., (a total of 11...hope I didn't forget anyone!) Everyone looked very glamorous in their purple outfits and red hats today! We all did a little penny gambling afterward, and it was a beautiful, sunny day, for November.
MONTHLY BREAKFAST TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18th was at 10am Meet at MAIN STREET CAFÉ
We played one 50's TRIVIA game, with Giovanna and Ida Mae tying as winners, and therefore, both getting prizes. Also, I had each lady write down one adjective word to describe each fellow hatter present, so that NEXT meeting, it will be revealed what your sister's think of you, "IN A WORD". It will be very interesting, and also, I will give each lady a copy of her "compliments" to keep with her forever. I don't know about YOU, but knowing that people are saying sweet things about me, and being able to look at that list when I am down, will definitely bring me back up! It's a little EGO thing for each of us, to keep in our back pocket. The love in our group is just incredible. Queen Shady Ladybug Linda
Some of our members did some GRAPE STOMPING, OCTOBER 8th,at the STEELE WINERY HARVEST FESTIVAL !!
This event is hosted by Queen Pat Ivor of the Konocti Kuties and her Vice Mother, Kim Hendricks. I was planning to do this event anyhow, so I figured, why not join in with the OTHER chapter, and the more the merrier?
Our member Happy Harbin Char was a stomp off winner in the contests and so was Kim H. of the Konocti Kuties and her helper, Heidi.
SEPTEMBER 19th -
LUSHY LUAU IN LUCERNE
Lady Go-A-Lot (Giovanna) invited us to her home in LUCERNE on September 19th for a Hawaiian Luau swim party. Once again, we had a total of a DIRTY DOZEN DAMES donning their swimwear and sarongs in the sun! Lady Happy Harbin Char and Lady Cutie Cucumber Mary were the only brave ones to take a dip in the pool to cool off their hot flashes!!
Lady Ruthless Ruth was Giovanna's assistant for this event and helped Giovanna provide the main course for dinner, and the rest of us brought some delicious appetizers and desserts. The food was so FANTASTIC I couldn't believe it, and enough to feed an army of red hatters. There was succelent bbq ribs, coconut prawns, salads, veggie casserole, fruit salad and more! Giovanna really knocked herself out and is a fabulous cook!!
......as we had each brought a baby photo of ourselves, and none of us were too good at guessing, but Lady Happy Harbin won the prize by guessing 3 correct! Lady Cynthia got the "booby prize" for guessing the least, which was a "Fart Extinguisher". There was also a prize given to Lady Go-A-Lot for coming up with the most words to our SACRED PLEDGE of ALLEGIANCE! Someday, maybe you can all memorize it so we can recite it together at an event!
We dined and whined until 5pm and I was the last to depart, with Char and Janet......when suddenly as we were backing down the driveway, Lady Ruthless came running out of the house with a big black purse saying "IS THIS YOUR PURSE?".... "NO!" we said.... Then I heard Giovanna yell out "THAT'S MY PURSE, RUTH!" ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Another occurrence at this event was that Lady Happy Harbin Char discovered after she'd went home that evening she had lost her treasured grandmother's ring she was wearing, but happily, Giovanna retrieved it from the pool the next day, and Char was once again, happy and giggling.
Those attending were: Myself, Char, Janet, Ruth, Giovanna, Mary S., Jane, Heidi, Alice, Lynne, Cynthia, and Pat D. Our Lady Godida was unable to attend, due to her husband Oz having an emergency pacemaker installed that day! We wish him well with his new ticker!
Until next time, laugh a lot, and love a lot!
BREAKFAST at MAIN STREET CAFE in Clearlake on Wednesday, Sept. 14, had a great turnout of members. We had a first visit from a new member, Jan Bonderson, and others attending were myself, Mary Schossler, Alice Camp, Char Fassbinder, Janet King, Mary Parker, Vi Packer, Lynne Gallo, Pat Dineen, Wendy Dalton and Judy Noell, a total of 12 lovely ladies. The set up we'd ask for was to be on the patio, a table for a dozen ladies. What we got was a table for 15 set up in the back bar, where we were hidden from public view. Was that a silent message that they don't think we are "all that" cute? We played the "Give Yourself a Point" game that Lady Can Can Jan hosted for us, and Lady Vocal Vi was the winner of the Red Hat nightlight for a prize. We are all looking forward to the luau on Sept. 19 that Lady Go-A-Lot Gio and Lady Ruthless are having for our group! I've gotta go do some grocery shopping this morning and I think I'll wear my dark glasses so no one will recognize me, as I am feeling strange, and not even recognizing myself right now, anyway.
THE MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL PLAY, AUGUST 14th was very, extremely hilarious. Including our chapter, there were a total of 35 ladies that enjoyed the play together (Six of them were family and friends of our member Lady Happy Harbin that are from Alameda. Most of us got on the 10am ferry in Vallejo together and promptly ordered up Blood Mary's to quench our thirst from waiting in line and gabbing.
I just loved the play, as did everyone else! I couldn't believe my eyes (and ears) when one of the singers starting singing the old 60's song "GOOD, GOOD, GOOD....GOOD VIBRATIONS to her DILDO vibrator. Too much! A couple of red hatters behind us laughed so hard they wet their pants!
There are LOTS of restaurants at Pier 39, but with 275 red hatters attending the play, they were all pretty jammed.
Our group had reservations for 25 at Chic's Seafood Restaurant at 11:30am and it was very lovely, with views of the bay and the Golden Gate. THEN AFTERWARD At 1pm, ALL red hatters were invited to a cocktail party at the theatre, before the 2pm performance. We enjoyed a couple of Menopause Mai Tais and Meno-Tini Watermelon vodka & schnapps, and they allowed us to take our drinks into the theatre.
Dinner afterward was an optional event, and some did just that before getting on the ferry home.
We dined Sunday evening at the "new" CLIFF HOUSE out on the edge of town with beautiful ocean views there. Lady Can Can and I, with our husbands spent the night in San Francisco at the MARINA MOTEL 2576 Lombard St. (800)346-6118 or (415) 921-9406. It was a lovely older motel built in 1936 to celebrate the Golden Gate Bridge, and kept up very nicely, with beautiful bougainvillas and fushias filling the courtyard. Our room had a separate kitchen, much like a studio apartment. The garages are underneath the units, sort of like a little townhouse. Very charming, all in all, and for future reference the rooms are only $99 for two persons per nite, and there is FREE PARKING there, plus they allow my little doggie, Bobby.
My husband and I stayed through Tuesday night, and went to the David Gray concert at the Fillmore Auditorium. He's one of my favorites, and you should check him out online. Look for his album WHITE LADDER, but he has others too, and is from England.
On our last day there I got a beautiful vase and bird of paradise arrangement from a shop in Sausalito...... I just loved it and had to have it! It was pretty expensive, but I bought it partly because I was miffed at Stew. Here's what happened..........
We enjoyed brunch at the Lighthouse Cafe there in Sausalito, and when we were departing, our new little yellow truck/car-convertible was parked right in front. I got in and he got in; I glanced to my side window and there was a BEE on it, in the car. In my extreme panic, I yelled and opened the door and let it just FLOP open, and the door whammed onto a steel pole there in the way. He says, what the hell and started rolling his eyes and was upset, as he was SURE there was a big dent in the car door. I got miffed and said, "Well, SHIT, you care more about the car than you do me; I should have let the damn bee sting me and flop over dead, instead of wrecking the car door!"
Turns out, after our little argument, that he didnt see the bee and didn't know WHY I flopped the door open like that. ........and the door wasn't dented after all and not a scratch on it, for whatever reason! Swiftly, I had him drive me to the nearest gift shop, walked in, and lo and behold, there was my expensive floral arrangement I found, begging me to buy it. It was my reward for not being killed by the bee. Til the next barrel of fun, keep laughing!
ON AUGUST 9, TIPSY TUESDAY BREAKFAST at TWIN PINES CASINO
How elegantly served....
Just like royalty!
on May 10th
was enjoyed by 10 chapter members and
one guest (Kathy).
Those attending were Lady Sinthia, Lady Godida, Lady Want-A-Lot, Lady Divine Bovine, Lady Glorious, Lady Happy Harbin, Lady So-Not-Plain Jane, Lady Brit, and our bubbly Vice Mother, Lady Vibrations (Janet).
It was reported to me that the little sandwiches were yummy, and they got the grand tour of the Victorian rooms at this vintage location they call Lakeport English Inn, which is also a Bed & Breakfast Inn.
Heidi did the selection and planning of this event, and initated a 50/50 raffle which gained $23 for a deposit to our chapter checking account, and the other half going to the winner, who was Kathy, a guest.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, HEIDI! The girls loved it, and your Mother's Day corsages were so beautiful. They even brought me one! I am going to put it on my hat.
There were also raffle prizes, won by one and all (except unlucky Lady Vibrations).
Thank you so much, dear Janet, for taking over for me at this event, since I am ill right now. I'll be joining you all soon! Just you wait and see! I miss you all!
QUEEN SHADY LADYBUG LINDA
A HUGE SUCCESS!!!
IT WAS A BLAST,
BUT I'M GLAD IT'S OVER!!!
look to your left and CLICK on "POEMS BY ME"....
HI EVERYONE,
The female winner of BEST FIFTIES COSTUME was Lady Suzie Snapshot
(Suzanne O'Loughlin) in her red poodle skirt she made herself!
That gal has energy that never poops out!
She and her main squeeze, Don, danced and danced!
Her prize was an I LOVE LUCY board game.
between Bill Jensen and the DJ's son, Joe Carnes.
They had to "draw straws" to determine
who got the prize of an electric chocolate fondue pot.
Joe got the winning straw and won the fondue pot,
but I found it after the dance out in the parking lot.
He and a 42 year old single gal took a
long stroll in the moonlight and she made
him forget the prize. I guess SHE was his prize!
Ha ha ha!
I figured we broke even pretty much.
I am going to have Vice Mother Janet King go over all the figures also,
so that the two of us can swear to it on a stack of Bibles together.
left in our checking account, however, Ruth Maples
donated $100 and she told us to keep it for next year's dance fund.
the bar most of the evening, assisting people to find
the sodas and mixes they needed.
or half baked idea, so I dont mind at all. My God,
I'm lucky I pulled it off, thanks to all your help!
it was meant to be a FUN-RAISER, and it was!! Or, you might say, a bunch of old
RAISINS doing a little Hell-raising.
love, etc., etc.
I just want to be fair to all about this. Lots of ladies
worked really hard, and we were a GREAT
team, working together. No problems!
"walk ins" and we gained some money in raffles too!
Our new member, Linda Jensen,
the dance instructor, brought 3 tables full of her students
who joined us in the fun.
in the May Newsletter.
from Chez Char's Salon, was won by a man from out
of town when he won the NAME THAT TUNE contest. He gave
the certificate back to Janet King, saying he would never
use it, and she returned it to Char. Char gave it to
a friend of hers, Ken, Wendy's husband,
because he donated the time and materials to
build our JAIL HOUSE cell for the Jailhouse Rock
dance props. Anyway, it was hers to give
to whoever she wanted to, and so she did.
but the battery died when I was singing my
HOW MANY FROGS song with Joan Moss.
Otherwise, we have a GREAT video, although I wish there
had been more video of the dancing going on.
not opened. We had LOTS of birthday cake
left, and I have frozen a big part of it, so we will
all have some together at a later date.
and I retrieved it, so I wonder WHO IS THE OWNER OF IT?
with electric sockets blowing out, and there was a padlock
on the breaker switches, so we couldnt
get in.
was out of town. What to do???? No plugs worked
for the food warming. No plugs worked
for the DJ's music set up.
It was LUCK that the DJ brought his
professional electrician son, Joe, with him.
He was able to do some rewiring of the plugs
and get all of it going again! Whew!
a good break on the cleaning. She
charged only $60,
since all of the ladies helped so much on Sunday afternoon pre-cleaning.
She didn't have to do much work getting it back in shape.
All the garbage was outside, and all in order.
So, just vacuuming, mopping and a little
toilet/sink cleanup did it. Hey, if I
had'nt been so worn out, I would have cleaned it myself!
I was feeling so LAZY.
along with some photos, if they will accept them!
Our Lady Suzie Snapshot had her camera
in motion, and so did Lady Jane, and lots
of others.
People are already looking forward to
next year's event! I think we will
have it at the Elks Lodge next year though, as it will be
a lot less work. They will cook and serve the food buffet
and they will have the booze bar to sell drinks.
It will be a lot EASIER on everyone. Buy a ticket, and enjoy.....no work!
Unless you are a performer, that is.
and start practicing.
There are some ladies that went beyond the call
of duty, working so hard! You know who
you are, and so do I.
Truthfully, MOST of the ladies were just SUPER
as far as helping.
a great blast from the past!
Your Queen, Linda Stewart
HERE IS THE NEWS RELEASE
I am hoping the newspaper will print
along with a SOCK HOP photo........
NEWS RELEASE - FIFTIES SOCK HOP…….
APRIL’S NIFTIES SHOCK HOP
A NOSTALGIC TRIP TO THE FIFTIES
Actually, it was the
FIRST ANNUAL NIFTY FIFTIES SOCK HOP, hosted and promoted
by one of the 18 Red Hat Society chapters in Lake County on April 22.
the All American food buffet was a familiar menu
of chili dogs, lots of chips and snacks, Mom’s homemade potato and macaroni salads with a sprinkling of our favorite cheese back then (Velveeta of course).
by rounds of applause, and Lady Suzie Snapshot (Suzanne O’Loughlin)
of Clearlake won Best Dressed female, in her homemade red poodle skirt.
to be on Route 66 for travelers were posted abundantly
throughout the area. “The wolf is shaved so neat and trim, Red Riding Hood is chasing him”….Burma Shave.
FRIDAY, April 21, 2006
PREP FOR THE DANCE....
Everything went well but we sure worked our butts off!
Jane offered to go pick up burgers at McDonalds for us workers at lunch time., so we all ordered a Kiddie Meal, and saved our toys for the grandchildren.
Char and I were the die hards, and were there until after 4pm. Man, is she a worker and a good decorator. Honestly, I would have left earlier, but she worked, so I worked and blew more balloons and hung them.
It looks great! Wendy's husband, Ken, also showed up and put
together our mock jail for the Jailhouse Rock dance
routine. I've got my 200 weines and buns, and just have the soda pop, drink mixes and ice to get tomorrow.
soap, toilet paper, paper towels, toilet seat covers.....
these are all dangerously low or out of already. I checked the freezer supply room, and all around... NO SOAP or toilet paper.
YIKES! He says, buy them and I will reimburse you if there are not any.
at their clubhouse, Arrowhead Rd. at Santa Clara Street.
There were 16 Red Hatters and we got a little business done re: the dance.
Janet collected some money from members that are not going to the dance but paying to show support for it. Also got some commitments for food. It was lots of fun and I'm sure everybody had a good time.
at the Queen’s house.
We split it up into groups of 3, singing the song 3 times, and she said it sounded pretty good!
At noon, we had Jailhouse Rock dance practice, and Giovanna opened up the Masonic Lodge for us to practice in our tap shoes on their floor instead of scarring up mine!
Alice, Janet, Char and I danced the routine over and over and over again trying to get the timing right and the step in Sync. Poor Char ended up slipping in her tap shoes and fell on her tailbone on that hard tile floor! Decided we'd better ditch the taps or put bandaids over them so it won't be so slippery.
was planned by our classy LADY SUZIE SNAPSHOT! ....
An Irish lunch of corned beef & cabbage!
luncheon celebration was a raging success, thanks to Suzanne and her helper,
Lady So Not Plain Jane, and also Lady Ruthless who brought the beautiful bouquets
of daffodils for the tables.
Kudos to our event planners!!
delicious and served on an elegantly decorated table with
fabric tablecloths and napkins. I truly felt like ROYALTY!
of baby greens and warm rolls; then a lovely
entree of corned beef & cabbage with baby carrots.
Cocktails and wine were available
at the bar and dessert was furnished by
our ladies, which was a delicious white cake with
green sprinkles on the frosting and strawberry ice cream.
candies in the center. I enjoyed
the lunch immensely, and loved the
entertainment of the Vaudeville dancers
who performed for us, called THE ANGEL LIGHTS.
Their costumes were so beautiful, and they
all did a lip sync performance to the lyrics.
I was told they peform at no charge for many of the rest
homes and seniors in our county, and just enjoy doing it!
I gave an application to, namely Wendy Johnson, who won
the prize for the best decorated St. Pat's Day hat.....
Lady Happy Harbin received the 2nd prize, and there was also
a raffle drawing prize given.
I am so very, very pleased!
Vi, Jane, guest Wendy J., Ida, Cynthia, and of course ME!
Lady Vibrations (Our Vice Queen Janet) kindly took over for me, handling our busy agenda for the upcoming Red Hat Sock Hop. Thanks so much, Janet! You're a gem, and I appreciate it so much!
tied for the "GUESS
WHO THE TEENAGER IS" contest and I suggested
they pick the number 1 or 2 for a tiebreaker.
Heidi picked the number 1 so she got the prize,
which was a purple hat.
Did anyone guess my teen photo?
Linda Stewart in 1960.
Here's one of me, from the
rear. I thought I was Marilyn Monroe....
This is my sister, on the left
and her friend Joan, in the early 60's.
Nice hairdo, huh?
...and doesn't my sis look like
Carol Burnett?
each but Practice for the upcoming KAZOO KONTEST
wasn't so hot. Ladies loved using them
but the song is going to need to 'narrated' and
LOTS MORE PRACTICE!!!!
instrumental karaoke version that we can kazoo
along with when we perform)
and only a couple (probably Judy, Babe and Pat)
didn't pick theirs up.
Great! I didn't get mine
either, of course. Did everyone like the way
they turned out?
got all the people for the decorations and two
for the food. There was some discussion about
not having 'dinner' just appetizers/finger foods.
at least a ream or two of EVENT FLYERS to be distributed
around the lake, two weeks and one week
before the dance.
FROM QUEEN SHADY LADYBUG. Yes, we've
got much to do between now and April 22.
4/21 Friday and start decorating, so we'll have
perhaps two crews (Fri. and Sat.) to accomplish
that.
THE PAST FUN EVENING!
THIS EVENT WAS JUST FABULOUS, in my humble opinion!
lettuce salad)..... my husband had the coconut shrimp and it was $18 each!)
Nice menu there, and elegant table settings. The jazz/blues trio
music was wonderful...... black musicians with
a lot of rhythm that got everyone up dancing. Andre Williams was
the singer, and did some Marvin Gaye tunes, among others.
WHAT A GREAT JAZZ BAND!
a big delicious carrot cake she got from
Tony's bakery in Clearlake.
Our ladies that attended were Wendy, Char,
Mary P., Vi, Suzanne, Alice,
and Janet. Also, there were Nancy,
Tony, Ken, Bruce, two fellas
from Harbin, Barbara, and
one other lady guest,
and me and Stew.
and chairs at the entrance, and the
joint was pretty full. I loved it.
Thanks to Char, this was a very fun evening! I'll DEFINITELY want to go back there!
forgot what the prize was! We all
sang Happy Birthday to Tony (Janet's husband) and
also Ken (Wendy's husband). I had a special
"black rubber" OVER THE HILL cake for Tony
that said Older Than Dirt on it, and it also
sang "Those Were the Days" by
Archie and Edith Bunker.
have one gray hair that I could see.
We arrived on time, 7pm, and sat down at a beautiful table with a bouquet and white table cloth, joining Lady Ruthless, Lady Campy, Lady Suzie Snapshot and her squeeze, Don. 
The Queen learned THE SALSA!!!!
CHA CHA CHA........
They kept playing music and dancing. Then I saw they were selling bottles of water for $1.00 or soda or coffee for $1.00 about 8pm. We bought some coffee; and waited and waited. Long about 8:30pm they sat up a buffet dinner with paper plates, and everyone got in line. They plopped a huge mound of Spanish rice and a tamale and some chips on each persons plate in line that I viewed when they walked by to their tables.
Frankly, the food looked unapealing, so I'll have to ask the ladies how it tasted, or if they even stayed and ate.
8:45pm the line was very long as there were about 150 people there. I apologized to my fellow hatters for the disappointing evening at 9pm, when Stew and I left for the nearby casino and ate a patty melt and did a little gambling. We were starving!
Their parking lot was full of mud and was not well lit, so our shoes got yukked up on the way out, and it was damn freezing cold that night too!
Happy Valentine's Day!
chapter to join them for an
elegant lunch at The Saw Shop restaurant on Main St. in Kelseyville,
for their HEART'S DELIGHT LUNCH. Gloria Snider handled the planning of this event.
I don't know how many went, as I was not there!
The seating was limited to 40 ladies at $15 each.
was on Feb. 7th in their banquet room, just off the main dining restaurant area.
We met at 10am, as usual. Finally, someone got our table set properly, in the horseshoe shape, so we could converse more easily. Attending were Ida, Ida's guest Linda, Jane, Lynne, Alice, Pat D., Jan B., Vi, Mary P., Char, Janet, Jimmie, newest member Suzanne S., and returning from absence due to family illness was Lady Babe. That make a turnout of 16 happy ladies.
CHINESE NEW YEAR
Cantonese menu and POETRY & MUSIC
at the Alpine Café on Hwy. 20 in Lucerne. 
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR !!
with Vince Metzger
as MC. It was a full house and now it is known that
they need a larger venue for this type of event.
this day were, (me) Linda, Char, Jimmie and her guest,
Char's guest Maria, Wendy & her husband Ken, my
daughter Sara, my husband Stew, Ruth, Giovanna
and Suzanne! A total of twelve in our group;
once again A DIRTY DOZEN!
and red hats, and made quite a colorful and
welcome showing, we were told, to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
There were plenty of people signed up to perform,
including myself and Lady Happy Harbin who did her rendition of Tina Turner
by lip sync, in her small velvet sexy dress
and wild blondish hair. 
THE REAL TINA 
THE FAKE TINA TURNER
Oh, yes! I’m touched by this show of emotion.....
Should I be fractured by your lack of devotion?
Should i, should i? ....
YOU'D BETTER BE GOOD TO ME!
I don't know if I was imagining it, but I
thought the audience was very surprised to have
Char perform such an alluring routine, amidst their quite serious
poetry readings. An announcement was made that
they are taking applications for the new POET LAUREATE,
if anyone is interested in the position representing Lake County.
4 of my silliest poems, so they would get the idea
we are a silly fun-loving bunch of ladies. There were a few
chuckles, so I guess they liked it.
and we were told they did not have enough buffet Chinese
food for us; they ran out, so some of us traveled down the
road and had dinner at THE BOAT HOUSE in Nice, there on the lake.
Turns out, they were also serving "only"
Chinese food to celebrate the New Year, so we all ordered that, since
that is all they were serving that day. There were quite
a few frowns at the table as the dinners were served, and some
turned up noses at the cold chow mein and odd looking
sweet and sour pork from a can. I don't think they
really knew Chinese food from turnips and I heard
the coffee was pretty foul also. Heck, it was only
$6.95 for bad food, so you can't complain TOOOOO much.
the chocolate dessert. Some sent back the
food and ate ONLY dessert, which is not unusual
for a Red Hatter anyway. After all, that's what we
all love.........CHOCOLATE, and plenty of it!
I certainly did, and those Martinis sure looked fabulous,
although I passed on it and had the foul coffee.
Hey, we can't always have a fantastic meal or we wouldn't
know to appreciate or know if it was good or excellent.
Dominoes, with a cha cha cha flavor!
Let's play MEXICAN TRAIN DOMINOES
Lady Ruthless handled the ordering of our name badge buttons and collected the money = $2.50 for a name tag, or $5.00 for a name button with photo. This will be great for all us forgetful ones = (all of us?)
JANUARY 8, Sunday - ELVIS' 70th Birthday performance! 
Lady Happy Harbin Char
gazes into Elvis' eyes.....
LONGINGLY?
to Elvis, and it was a FREE
show at Robinson Rancheria in Nice.
in front of the restaurant at 5:30pm to dine together.
Since they would not take table reservations, we
managed to cram 8 or 10 of us into one
booth, elbow to elbow and enjoyed our meal.
in charge of this event, and we somehow were able
to get one entire row full of us Red hatters
from the Clear Lake Minnow-Pausers chapter.
The highlight for me was a big
laugh when Elvis chose my husband's
ex-wife Nora to join him on stage. One of my chapter ladies
took this photo, not knowing she was my "enemy". ha ha
us, but arrived later to see Elvis in person.
One of my Ladys got a little overly excited over Elvis, and we
got this snapshot of her.
She was expelled from our chapter immediately!
A mystery lady from our group attacked Elvis!
Do you know who she is?
Elvis finale....singing DIXIE
JANUARY 18, WEDNESDAY RED HAT SWAP MEET and LUNCH - A multi-chapter event, was hosted by the Queen Pat Ivor
of the Konocti Kuties, who once again, graciously invited us. 
Suzanne's hat and mine....
our "trade out" items in tow.
3 new hats I am anxious to wear. The swap was a lot of
fun and the lunch was good.
The menu was chicken breast w/pineapple salsa, green salad, broccoli/rice pilaf, coffee, tea, and chocolate cake for dessert, all for $14.00.
Anyway, I'm glad I went, it was a very enjoyable afternoon with some very kind and sweet ladies.
DECEMBER 20 – TUESDAY was out at noon, at my house. Each lady brought a gift wrapped present and we played the gift exchange game. There were some fabulous potluck dishes, along with my Spiral Ham and veg. lasagne.
For me, the hit of the dessert dishes was the chocolate chip dream whip cookie pudding or pie that Lady VIVACIOUS VI brought. She left me a huge portion to make sure my husband got to taste it, and he is demanding me to get the recipe. Hope it isn't a secret recipe, Vi! 
Left to right: Lady GodIDA, Lady Chat Lover Marcia, Queen Shady Ladybug, Lady Vivacious Vi, and Lady Lush Locks Pat.
Xmas Gift Exchange with the gang...
at Queen Shady Ladybug's home.
in Lakeport.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, we met for breakfast at the Main Street Cafe in Clearlake
We had a total of 20 red hats and some good photographs were taken.
Giovanna (Lady Go-A-Lot) announced that she will have a booth at the Dicken's Fair on Nov. 26 (one of our events), and she will be selling CRISPY CREME DOUGHNUTS for $7.00 per dozen. She'll have 500 dozen available for purchase! Be sure to buy a dozen, for a good cause, to help the rescue mission that she volunteers for.
Here's my chance, since I have NEVER tasted a Crispy Creme doughtnut yet. I plan to starve all day and then eat about 1/2 dozen doughnuts and call it breakfast, lunch and dinner!
See you ladies on next Tuesday for breakfast at the Main Street Cafe at 10am!!! I love each and every one of you! Special cheers to my ONLY smoking buddy, Ruth! She and I are still puffing away, and as Lynne brought to our attention, we have very, very black lungs. Yuk! Well, someday, Ruth, we will quit.
_________________________________________________________________
on Lakeshore Dr. in Clearlake.
I love eggs!
There was a LONG table set up for us, and 16 giggling ladies enjoyed the morning together.
Those present were Marcia, Lynne, Gloria, Suzanne, Ida Mae, Ruth, Heidi, Peggy, Jan B., Giovanna, Mary P., Wendy, Char, Janet, Alice, and myself.
As a special surprise, to celebrate our one year anniversary of our chapter today, I picked up the tab for everyone's breakfast. I just wanted to show my appreciation to all of my ladies to have them in my chapter, because I believe they are all so special. The harmony of this group is fantastic. There is no squabbling, back-stabbing, jealousy, competition or discord in our little sisterhood, which I believe is unusal, because MOST females in clubs have their catty problems! Ha Ha. I might be a little predudiced, but I sincerely think MY chapter ladies are the best that we could ever wish for.
Oddly enough, there was not ONE lady present that was a charter member of my chapter that started LAST October. Many have dropped out and been replaced, and I think we have real KEEPERS now, who are going to STAYERS.
Clear Lake Minnow-Pausers are the BEST!
We have formed a wonderful FRIENDSHIP group, a sisterhood, and that is the whole point of the Red Hat Society. We have succeeded, with an A+, for sure.
As I rode off in my egg yolk colored Chevy, I had a full smile on my face,
a full heart and a full belly!
I love ya all, 
It's HARVEST TIME !
Your tootsies might turn purple,
but it won't hurt you!!! 
Everyone said they had a great time, and the vendor booths there were the best they had ever seen. The food and music was wonderful too.
I forgot to do the hula for you gals!!
Here is Char in her bathing suit!
in her bathing suit!
Well, I must say that Giovanna's Pina Colada cake was the biggest hit in the dessert department, but Lady Jane's chocolate cake was a close runner up! It pretty much got totally devoured. There was our famous RED HAT TEA that Lady Janet brought and punch and coffee provided by Giovanna.
We played GUESS WHO THE BABY IS.....
We were so cute THEN!
Afterward, I headed down to Char's Salon and got my hair done - VERY BLONDE this time.
The entire performance was done by 4 very talented ladies for a solid 90 minute show without a break. Afterward, they invited us ladies up on the stage to do a CAN CAN dance with them, and they pinned us with a souvenior button that says "I've Changed!" Cute idea for us that have been through 'THE CHANGE'already. Songs about night sweats, songs about life and love...fabulous, fabulous. If you missed it, you MUST go see it before it leaves San Francisco!!!
Queen Shady Ladybug, LINDA