Your Majesties,

FOR AULD LAND SYNE

It is already time for the final Queen to Queens broadcast of the year. We have come to the end of our tenth year as a Society! This year we held parties and celebrations of every size and type imaginable. We whooped it up pretty good!

But all the partying and high spirits gave way to fears and difficulties too. If there has ever been a roller coaster of a year, 2008 was it! It held trials and low points beyond anything that society in general had experienced in years. The Red Hat Society found itself in serious financial trouble, and our future seemed in doubt.

But, the generous help of Red and Pink Hatters (financial and otherwise) has begun to get us back on track and put us in a place where we can plan for a wonderful future together, without nagging fears.

It’s been a hard year for just about everyone, don’t you think? None of us has been exactly whooping it up lately. But looking back on the last 12 months of the Red Hat Society is cause for quiet celebration – the kind that causes a warm glow in the heart, the kind that can bring tears to the eyes.

Collectively, we are turning everything around. Working together, we are rediscovering the true joy of Red Hatting. The stories from members in the last few weeks and months are full of affirmation and encouragement. They demonstrate the worth of our sisterhood in a concrete way. So many of you have shared that your chapter helped you through terrible ordeals in your personal lives (death of spouse or other loved ones, divorce, widowhood, illness).This kind of support can be very hard to find in this world.

But many who may not have faced such mountains have found something else, precious beyond words, through membership in our Society. Some have found a number of new best friends – friends they didn’t even know a few years ago! Many tell us that they have found the courage to try things that they had feared to attempt – just because of the support from their Red Hatted friends. Many have been amazed to discover their inner child clamoring to come out. It touches us deeply to learn how many women consider the RHS a true Godsend!

As long as we nurture the spirit of caring and generosity among ourselves, we cannot fail to find new joy in life. And that’s what the RHS is about.

RELEVANT COMPARISON

Right after the horrific events of 9-11 (just when the RHS was really getting going), I remember doubting the wisdom of continuing the effort to get the fledgling Society off the ground. For a time I felt (I’m sure like many others) that there was no longer a place in such a bleak world for something as light-hearted as the Red Hat Society.

But I was wrong. A lot of women emailed and called, saying, essentially, that the RHS was needed more than ever - that we should never give up trying to make the world a happier place - that giving up would be letting “the dark side” win.

So we didn’t give up. And we are not about to give up now, when our only problem is money! That is a small matter compared to the challenge that we experienced then, don’t you think?

If you have not yet signed up for your Supporting Membership, please try to do that as soon as you can. We aren’t yet where we need to be, but we’re on our way.

Queens, please be sure to communicate the situation thoroughly to your chapterettes. We can’t expect women who don’t know what’s going on to act quickly!

SUPPORT (Y)OUR SISTERHOOD)

Several new questions and answers have been added to the website FAQ page regarding the S.O.S. situation.

A MESSAGE FROM THE MEMBERSHIP DEPARTMENT

Here are some very useful tips on how to manage your chapter online:

Login to your Member Account with your username/password –Member Sign In on the homepage

Option 1) Click on Add Members To Chapter (This method assumes that you have collected $20 per member to be added.)

• Enter member information one member at a time.
  As you finish each one, a list will display with those you have added so far, as well as buttons to add another member (Perks).
  
• *** Do not hit the BACK button at any time, or you will lose what you've entered
  
• When you are done entering members, be sure that you've read Terms & Conditions, check the boxes that you agree and click CONTINUE
  
• An "Additional Items" ordering page will display. Even if you don't buy anything on this page, click NO THANKS FOR NOW at the bottom.
  
• You will have the option to pay by credit card or check.
  

Option 2) Give your new members your chapter ID number and direct them the RHS website. Ask them to sign up under the How to Join section. (This method assumes that the member will handle the financial transaction for themselves.)

To Modify Members' Records --

• Go to Chapter Roster
  
• Click on Modify next to the person's name you wish to change.
  
• Make changes and Update Profile when done.
  
• If you wish to delete this member, click on Delete This Member.
  
• NOTE: *** Members with expiration dates (active or expired) cannot be deleted or modified because they contain a financial transaction, please contact Member Services for assistance. We'd be happy to update the record for you. Send email to: memberservices@redhatsociety.com or call 714 738 0001 or (US Toll Free) 866 386 2850 Monday – Friday 09:00am – 5:00 pm PT.
  

How to Join 2009

When you are out and about, looking spectacular, and are approached about how to join the Red Hat Society, just say, "Visit the RHS website and click on How to Join! " Everything they need to know will be there.

NEW PLAYSHOP ADDED FOR DALLAS EVENT

We are excited to announce a new, added playshop titled “Queens Wear Crowns” to our “Divas Wear Diamonds” convention in Dallas next March! This event, presented exclusively for all Queens, co-Queens, and Vice-Queens (or Vice-Mothers) will be held on Saturday, March 28, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Any Queen, co-Queen or Vice-Queen who is registered for the convention is automatically invited to this playshop. If you aren’t signed up yet, may we suggest that you do so?

Let’s all sit down and chat about such topics as managing your chapter (and keeping it fun for everybody – including YOU), ideas for Reduations, Coronations, and planning chapter events – large and small. Over the years we have discovered that our best ideas come from brain-storming with our royalty (that would be you!). This is absolutely guaranteed to be fun as well as useful and inspirational. We hope to see you there.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO “DO LUNCH” WITH SALLY FIELD?

She will be available to have lunch with you, if you are the lucky RHS winner of the Boniva Bone Health Challenge on the RHS website. There’s still time to sign up to win this delightful treat. (How do I know that it will be delightful? Because EVM Linda Murphy and I got to spend a bit of time with Sally at our “Glam on the Grand” event – and she was completely down to earth – true girlfriend material! Time spent with her will be pleasurable as well as memorable.)

Second prize is a special lunch for your whole chapter. So how about taking this free quiz, learning more about bone health in the process, and crossing your fingers to win. In this case, there IS such a thing as a free lunch!

LIVING THE JOYOUS, POSITIVE, HEALTHY LIFE

We have developed an association with Aetna because they can help us in this area. It’s easier to have fun and forget your cares when you are feeling good! Why not use the tools provided?

Author George William Curtis summed it us like this: “Happiness lies, first of all, in health.” Long before him, the poet Virgil said, “The greatest wealth is health.” So, it stands to reason that pursuing good health is also good for your state of mind and your capacity to enjoy life – totally Red Hat!

That’s why Aetna has created a great new Virtual Health Fair, just for us RHS members. It’s full of answers to questions you may not even have known you had about such things as avoiding disease and living intelligently. Why hide your head in the sand when a little knowledge can help you make changes for the better?

Yes, the RHS is still all about fun, friendship, and the like – but health fits perfectly into our mission. And the RHS is always looking for ways to encourage and support our members to get the most out of life, no matter what their age.

Here’s a tidbit that could be immensely valuable to many of you: Medicare enrollment season runs from right now through the end of the year. With the overwhelming amount of choices out there, you may well be terribly confused. So you may be thrilled to discover that Aetna is ready and willing to answer any questions you have about the various Medicare plans. Who among us doesn’t appreciate a map when we’re in unfamiliar territory?

Whether you or your friends are 65 or older, or you are helping a loved one make an informed decision, our new health partner, Aetna, is available to help!

Let’s support Aetna for supporting Red Hatters with this valuable addition to the Red Hat Society website. They have been a great financial support to the RHS, and are our key sponsor for Divas Wear Diamonds, in Dallas!

HATS! THE MUSICAL

Queens many of you have requested HATS! the musical to come to an area near you. We have worked very hard to make this happen and are so delighted to begin a Nationwide tour starting in just a few months. Currently the tour has scheduled its first 4 locations and we would like to add many more stops. But it is up to you, if we fill the seats -- the tour continues to more locations. This tour will enable countless of hatters to enjoy the spirit, humor, wisdom, inspiration and "rockin good time" that many hatters already encountered when they saw HATS!. We ask everyone to set up a chapter outing to Go See HATS! (as Whoopi Goldberg said in her ringing endorsement...) You will have the time of your life. I believe, Judy of the Blackfoot Babes described it best... "HATS! is marvelous, hilarious, tear-jerking, riotous, wonderful. If we weren't laughing, we were crying or clapping. Excellent performances by each of the actresses, and beautiful costumes and sets. I can't write enough superlatives to do it justice. Just wonderful." We hope you all get to see this wonderful musical inspired by you and your ultimate joy of life. Tickets are now on sale for San Diego, California; Mesa, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; and Houston, Texas. For those of you in Seattle we have booked a theater and are working on getting the tickets are on sale. Each month I will continue to keep you posted on the new tour stops. If you purchase tickets before December 15, 2008, be sure to ask for the Early Bird Special and save even more. Visit redhatsociety.com/musical for specific theaters and performance dates.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HANUKKAH, HAPPY KWANZAA!

It is our fond hope that every one of our Red Hat Society sisters will find encouragement and comfort in her faith during this holiday season, and that we will all continue to care for and support each other in the coming year.

The world can sometimes be a lonely place. We Red Hatters don’t have to experience loneliness; we have each other….so we can all have a…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In friendship,

Sue Ellen, Debra, Linda and all of us at Hatquarters

Updated: December 03, 2008