Merry Girls

By Christina Weaver
Special to the Coastal Point

	Special to the Coastal Point • SAM HARVEY 'The Merry Girls of Sussex County' are certainly distinguishable by their wardrobes.

According to Sue Ellen Cooper, founder and Exalted Queen Mother, (on the Web site www.redhatsociety.com), “The Red Hat Society began as a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and élan. We believe silliness is the comedy relief of life, and since we are all in it together, we might as well join red-gloved hands and go for the gusto together. Underneath the frivolity, we share a bond of affection, forged by common life experiences and a genuine enthusiasm for wherever life takes us next.”

It is not surprising that one of the fastest growing areas in the nation, our dear old slower lower, has taken the Red Hat concept to its bosom. There are in fact over 100 chapters within 25 miles of the Bethany Beach zip code and many, like the Merry Girls, have had to close their membership lest they become over grown. Not to worry, just as there is always a new plot of land to be developed, so one can birth one’s own chapter, name it (Hot-z Tot-z Red Hatters, Crimson Crabbettes of the Eastern Shore, Majestic Matrons and Snazzy Dazzy Delachicks are already taken!), and appoint oneself Queen Mother, or whatever other whimsical name takes one’s fancy.

Every month it is the turn of two of the women to arrange the meeting. Last week, Gail Geno and Joan Vara hosted a Tea-Party Social at the Dagsboro home of Vara and her tuxedo-clad husband Frank, who graciously served as butler for the occasion. About twenty red hatted ladies were grouped around two formally set tables, partaking in an assortment of luscious delights and drinking —well, not everyone was sipping tea! But despite the connotation of formality and decorum associated with tea parties, these ladies were together for one purpose: to have fun.

Winnie Ruggeri is this Red Hat chapter’s Queen Mother. “It’s a movement,” she explained. “We can let our hair down, be ourselves and our only rule is to never talk badly about another Red Hatter.” Last month Ruggeri hosted a sleepover party at her home. And yes, the ladies wore purple PJs. “And Winnie wore a see-through negligee over purple undies and sported a boa,” laughed the group as they interjected that they sang karaoke tunes until four o’clock in the morning and that Bubbles (“she used to be a clown not a stripper!”) awoke the group at seven so they could make their breakfast date at a local restaurant. Yes, still clad in PJ’s!

Mary Chinnery, who volunteers for the art league and is on the Board of the Indian River Senior Center in Millsboro, was recognized by her cohorts as wearing some of the best hats of the group. “I have one for each season,” she noted, adding, “Belonging to the Red Hats is a great way for newly transplanted people to feel at home. Being around friendly people makes you feel friendly and cheerful.” She found the group by doing a computer search for things to do in the area.

Bubbles Pezzino, who used to entertain seniors and children with disabilities wearing a different hat and gloves as a clown, agreed. “I moved here from Redding, PA and knew nobody. By joining the Red Hats, I’ve met so many people in this chapter and others and have gone to such interesting and different places.”

One of the places the chapter stayed recently was the historic Atlantic Hotel in Berlin. According to Susan Sharp, “a gentleman came in to the room where we were meeting and asked ‘who has a September birthday?’ Well Terry Lowe’s was closest to the date and he returned to the room with a slightly bedraggled, floppy red hat in his hand. It was worn in the Chicago production of the play, Chicago, and he gave it to her.”

Before the meeting was over, there was one serious piece of business: a phone call to Josephine Hood, a member who was in Beebe Hospital. With Jenny Vucinich playing the piano, and two portable phones held high, the Merry Ladies gave full throttle to “Sing a Song” and at the end they all laughed, at themselves and with each other.

If you believe people who laugh a lot live longer, Sussex County should be prepared for a blip in the number of merry centenarians to plan for!