Monday April 25 was proclaimed Red Hat Day in the Village of Owego, the Town of Owego, and Tioga County.

 The Susquehanna Sweethearts, Owego Red Hat Chapter, hosted a luncheon at the Owego Treadway Inn and Conference Center at which proclamations were presented by Clark Hepworth, Deputy Mayor of the Village of Owego, Carol Sweeney, Owego Town Supervisor and a member of the Susquehanna Sweethearts, and Walt Johnson, Tioga County Legislature.

 The Red Hat Society is a international organization dedicated to the belief that there is fun after fifty for women of all walks of life. The organization was founded by Sue Ellen Cooper in 1998. It started when she gave a friend a red hat and a copy of the poem Warning by Jenny Joseph which begins "When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me and I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves."

 Cooper gave the same gift to another friend, and another, and another, until the women realized they were becoming a sort of Red Hat Society, and decided to go to tea in full regalia of red hats and purple dresses.

 According to Cooper, now known as the exalted Queen Mother, "The Red Hat Society began as a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and elan. 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."

 Women younger than 50 are invited to participate, too, although they wear pink hats and lavender outfits, making the switch to red and purple when they reach "the age."

 There are currently more than 37,000 Red Hat Chapters. The local Owego Susquehanna Sweethearts Red Hat Society was started by Karen Kretsch and Joan Gibbs, who are Co-Queen Mothers (whoever starts a chapter is the Queen Mother!), in January 2004 with six members. Today they have 115 members from as far away as Corning, Binghamton, and Spencer, New York, and Rome, Pennsylvania. 

 For more information about the Red Hat Society or to locate local chapters, visit www.redhatsociety.com.

 For more information about the Susquehanna Sweethearts Owego Red Hat Chapter, contact Karen Kretsch at 687-0469.