All about being themselves

The dimly lit hall of the Spokane Aerie 2 Eagles club is a gateway to the past, with trophies and medals and black-and-white photos of men with crew cuts and stern looks.

It’s the kind of place that attracts the 60-and-over crowd, where bingo nights haven’t lost style and music doesn’t need words.

Down the building’s long corridor a group of fair-aged women have assembled in front of a swinging door.

“We’ve taken over,” says Diane Barter, 55, who’s dressed in purple and red, while standing guard in front of the men’s restroom. “It’s necessary.”

Anytime almost 200 women get together for a social afternoon, lines to the bathroom are going to form. When they’re from the Red Hat Society – a national group of women 50 and older with boisterous personalities – they’re going to do what they please, and they’re going to have a good time doing it.

On Saturday, more than 15 chapters of Inland Northwest women came together to celebrate friendship and fun. They’re part of a national organization that started only about five years ago, a phenomenon that has produced more than 30,000 chapters of free-spirited women.

It began when a California woman started spreading to friends a Jenny Joseph poem titled “Warning.” It opens: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple / With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.”

Members will admit they’re a little crazy, with their bright clothes and creative costumes, but it’s all with good reason.

“Fun. Just having fun,” says Joane Neprud, 67, who organized Saturday’s Red Hatters Fun Day. Chapters range in size from only a handful of women to triple-digits, but it’s rare that different groups have an opportunity to co-mingle.

“Getting together and meeting other sisters – we call ourselves sisters – we just have fun,” Neprud says.

The organization – or “disorganization,” as members have dubbed it – doesn’t have a lot of red tape. Women 50 and older wear red hats and purple clothes. Women younger than 50 wear pink and lavender. As far as rules go, that’s about it.

Each group has a Queen Mother, who serves as the organizer. Some have a Queen Mum, who is either the leader or the oldest woman in the group. The women get together once a month, usually for lunch or an activity.

Sometimes a woman will wear a purple hat instead of a red one, meaning she’s having a special occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary. When a novice member hits 50, fellow friends throw a “Red-u-ation” party.

Of course, there are plenty of gifts to be had at such an event because there’s a growing market of Red Hat products. Vendors sell colored aprons, hats, gloves, purses and pillows, to name a few. There are dolls. An Idaho woman is selling specialty soap.

“I know I’m going into the hat-making business, the little hats,” jokes Linda Egger, a 58-year-old retiree chatting with two friends, during Saturday’s $10 lunch.

“I like the big hats myself,” responds Judy Scott, 53.

“Oh, I know. Well,” Egger clarifies, “the ones that won’t give you hat hair.”

A disheveled look isn’t always a problem, though. On Saturday, awards were given to women for not only the most elegant and sexiest wardrobes, but also for the frumpiest and most creative getups.

“We’re celebrating life, and you don’t stop at 50,” says Judy Brown, dressed as a red-and-purple ostrich complete with feathers, leggings and clawed shoes.

Enjoying life for these women means getting together to converse over food and wine, taking a cruise on the lake, playing bunko.

Their average age is about 65, so there’s the expected talk of family and retirement. But some have mouths on them that would put the grandkids – if not sailors – to shame.

Get a group of these women together and age doesn’t show.

“Women have raised their children, they have supported their husbands, they have even had jobs,” explains Pat Dresler, 58, who started the second chapter in the region almost five years ago. “They’ve done it all. Now it’s time for themselves.”