Maricopa Mamas organize Red Hat chapter

Do you own a red hat? Do you like to have fun? Then Maricopa’s Red Hat Society, the Maricopa Mamas, is just the group for you.

Chartered on February 20 of this year, the ladies are still organizing and hoping for several new members like Lindy Sanders. They meet at Hop Sing’s restaurant on the third Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. You will know they are there because they always put out the welcome sign.

The Red Hat Society began as a group for women over 50. Inspired by Jenny Joseph’s poem Warning which begins, “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple with a red hat,” members wear purple outfits and red hats. Younger women, who are not yet 50, wear lavender outfits and pink hats. When they turn 50, they have a “Reduation” ceremony and receive a red hat to commemorate their birthday.

Asked what the group does, the answer is nothing. Red Hatters feel that they have been dutiful and busy for so long that they deserve a break. The idea is to greet middle age with humor and happiness.

The chapter’s mascot also sings.

Chapters have no rules or bylaws. They structure their activities in accordance with the wishes of their members. Some types of proposed outings are shopping, dining out, museums, movies, theater, tea parties and ceramics.

The Maricopa Mamas are planning to have a booth at the city’s Founder’s Day event. Two of their members will be at Disneyland from November 3-6 for the national Red Hat Society convention that coincides with Disneyland’s 50th anniversary.

Founding members of the Maricopa Mamas are (left to right) Nildaflor Panganban, Faith Zuckerberg and Chris Hartong.

Women choose offices, and the chapter’s founder is referred to as the Queen Mother. Faith Zuckerberg holds that title in Maricopa. Chris Hartong is Vice Queen Mum. The position of Décor Diva belongs to L.C. Galvan. Nildaflor Panganban is also a member.

The Red Hat Society has about one million members in more than 41,000 chapters in the United States and 30 foreign countries. In 2002 at the first national convention held in Chicago, 400 Red Hatters attended. This year Las Vegas’s MGM Grand hosted 6,000 ladies from across the nation.

At the end of 1997 founder Sue Ellen Cooper presented a close friend with a copy of Joseph’s poem and a red hat to hang nearby. Other friends loved the idea, so five of them began calling themselves the Red Hat Society. A second group began in Florida. When both groups were featured in a home décor magazine, the word spread, and the Red Hat Society was born. It continues to grow at the rate of about 500 members a week.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Maricopa Mamas, contact Zuckerberg by email or at (520) 568-2896 or Hartong at (520) 568-1999, (520) 568-0662 (after 6 p.m.), or by email.