Hats off to the new society in town

Andrew Edwards

Costa Mesa’s Judy Lindsay has ascended to royal stature by starting a

new chapter of the Red Hat Society.

The society is a women’s social group that has almost no rules,

except for a dress code that calls for members to don bright red hats

while wearing equally vivid purple clothing for meetings. Many of the

women in the group are at least 50, but younger women are allowed to

join -- though they wear pink and lavender until they hit the

five-decade mark.

Lindsay, 66, is a recently retired Orange Coast College staffer

who has four grandchildren. Her chapter, the Red Hat Coasters

Chapter, held its first get-together Monday at the Costa Mesa Senior

Center. About 30 women showed up, and included were a former Marine

and a former nun. Some of the new members had already acquired their

red and purple regalia. Decked out in purple and crowned by a red hat

boasting feathers, a silk flower and a miniature cardinal, Lindsay

held an audience with the Daily Pilot’s Andrew Edwards to talk about

her queendom of red-hatted subjects.

What was your inspiration to start the chapter?

I’ve been reading about the Red Hat Society for years and I

thought it would be a fun group to be involved with. I’m newly

retired and filling my time, although I’ve overfilled my cup, I

think. I’m a people person; I enjoy being with people and going

places and doing things that are fun and exciting. One of the things

the group is going to do ... some of us are going to “Menopause: The

Musical.” It’s a play about women going through “the change” and it’s

in Los Angeles and it’s supposed to be excellent, hysterically funny.

I guess you’d have to be a woman, I don’t know.

Is there any symbolism behind the colors?

It’s based on the poem, “The Warning.” “When I’m old I’m going to

wear purple and a red hat that doesn’t match.” That’s the first line

in the poem. It has to do with, when I get old, I’m going to start

having fun and I’m going to learn how to spit and do kind of crazy

things. The founder of the organization wanted her friend, when she

turned 50, to loosen up and realize that life isn’t over just because

you’re 50 ... she brought her a red hat and framed the poem and

intended on her hanging up the poem with the hat beside it to just

remind herself on a daily basis that life isn’t over. We can loosen

up and be active as we are maturing. Anyway, her friends heard about

it and everybody liked it and they started buying each other red hats

for their 50th birthdays and that’s how it all started. It’s about

attitude and attitude being, kind of what I said earlier. We’ve

raised our kids, raised our husbands and it’s time for us now.

Where do you see this club going?

I see it providing an opening for women to meet new friends, find

new outlets for their enjoyment, and to fulfill maybe some need in

their heart to just kind of dress up and be a kid again.

When you had your first get-together, what was it like?

Everyone was very excited. We didn’t know how many to anticipate.

The flier was sent out with “The Chronicle,” which is the monthly

newsletter from the center here, inviting people to come. I decorated

with teapots. I brought teapots to serve out of, thinking we’d have

maybe 10 or 12 people, but when I heard that there were more than 20

at that time coming, we used the teapots as decorations instead of

drinking out of.

Were you excited to have such a large turnout?

Absolutely. One of the first things I said to them was how

thrilled I was to see so many people. In fact, I was going to do an

icebreaker and I wasn’t able to do it because there were too many

people.

How long did you take to plan your club?

Well, I’d thought about it for years and I spoke to Darryl Kim,

the program director [at the Senior Center]. Actually, one day, I was

working the switchboard, and I had a book called “The Red Hat

Society,” and it’s the history of the Red Hat Society. And he noticed

me reading it, and said that he’d been wanting to form a chapter here

for the ladies, but it has to be for women, so he can’t do that, and

would I be interested? And I said, “Well, I’ve been wanting to get a

chapter together.” OK, we’ll do it, so that’s kind of how it started.

Was everyone in their full regalia at the first meeting?

Just about everybody. That’s another thing, it’s a choice. Some

chapters demand you have to be in all purple with your red hat. Some

just say, wear something purple and a red hat, and a red hat can be a

headband or a baseball hat. One lady came, she had a little gold

pillbox, covered with red roses, and she loves flowers and roses so

that was her thing. I say it’s about attitude; it’s about attitude

and a reflection of who you are. I love to be open and I’m very

gregarious, and to me, the whole get-up was me, but it might not be

for the next guy.

So this club is pretty loose? There’s no rules for each chapter,

it’s whatever you want to do?

Right, as long as you don’t use the Red Hat Society’s name in

vain. The whole concept is that there’s no rules. We don’t have

meetings; you don’t file Robert’s Rules of Order. It’s up to you.