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Scarlet Sparkle™
For those of you who are new (or just forgot), a Scarlet Sparkle™ is a story of something serendipitous and that happens in the life of a Red Hatter, which has some sort of reference to her membership in our group. (In other words it is a magical connection that arises from the Red Hat Society.) Since we take pleasure in all the �serendipitous� stories we receive and report on in the Friday Broadcasts, we thought it might be a good idea to share our top 10 Scarlet Sparkles with you. We hope these stories of wonderful, magical �coincidences� are some of your favorites too!
 07/01/06: Free as (brilliantly-colored) Birds! Queen Angela Burke and seven other members of The Improper Bostonians (Boston, Massaschusetts) were driving to Canada for the Red Hat Society "Barrels of Fun" event last month. As their mini-caravan of three cars pulled into a rest stop, a state police cruiser pulled in behind them. The officer told them that they had been speeding through a work area! The women apologized, saying that they hadn't seen the sign. All of them, wearing their regalia, gathered near the police car while the officer checked their licenses on his radio. When he got out of the car, they asked him if he would pose for a photo with them. His answer? No - because he didn't want any evidence that he was letting them go! He said, "I felt like I was arresting a bingo bus!" Hey, whatever works! Back to the Top »06/01/06: Reassurance from a Surprising Source! Paula Shaffer, a former Florida queen, is now a Ruby's Rambler in Littleton, Colorado. She sent out an email to her former chapterettes in the High Fashion � Hot Flashin' chapter back in Wellington, Florida, sharing that her son, Brandon, was about to be deployed to Iraq. She soon received an answering e-mail from former chapterette, Anne Hlasnicek, reassuring her that her son was in good hands. She went on to say that the First Sergeant of Brandon's company "� is very thorough with his men, has years of experience in training, and this will be his fourth tour in the lovely sandy country. He has earned many awards for his work in battle, including the bronze star, and his men are his greatest concern." How did Anne know all of this? The First Sergeant of Brandon's company is her son, Mark! Paula relates that she didn't even know that Anne had a son! Back to the Top »05/01/06: 'Excuse me.. ' A gentleman who identifies himself only as “Jim,” sent this wonderful story. His mother recently attended a gathering of women interested in finding out more about the Red Hat Society. Shortly after she had signed the guest book, she was tapped on the shoulder by another woman, who asked , “Are you Evelyn?” When Evelyn nodded, she said, “I’m Sondra – your niece!” Due to a terribly unfortunate set of circumstances, Sondra had been separated from the family, exactly 50 years ago, during which time Evelyn had searched (in vain) for her! Now the family is reunited, and Jim thanks us for his “new” first cousin! Back to the Top »04/01/06: The Boa Fairy Susan Haines recently celebrated her 50th birthday on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, where she met a group of Red Hatters from Minnesota. One of them, named Beverly, asked Susan for her stateroom number. Later that evening, Susan found a bright red boa in her room, a gift from Beverly, which she was proud to wear for the rest of her trip. Says Susan, “If all of your members are as friendly and gracious as those ladies, it is no wonder that you are ever expanding. I am thinking of starting a group here in the Catskills and want to thank Beverly for her nudge in the right direction.” Back to the Top »03/01/06: It's a small sandbox Queen Mary Drzal (Crimson Belles, Yonkers, New York) recently received a letter from a boy (a man, now) who grew up 2 houses from Mary and played with her children when they were all small. His mother had sent him a copy of a newspaper article about the Red Hat Society, which featured Mary, and he was inspired to get in touch with Mary, waxing nostalgic about playing in the sandbox in her yard. Mary says this was a sparkly moment for her - and pretty surprising, since this man’s mom now lives in New Jersey. Red Hat Society magic strikes again! Back to the Top »02/03/06: "Serendipitous Snowlady" The Bella Butterflies (Huntsville, Alabama) had just started to enjoy their annual Christmas party when the doorbell rang. There stood a costumed Snowman! He asked if this was “Lisa’s house” and they said it wasn’t, but asked if he could come in for a minute? The Snowman (actually it turned out to be a Snowlady) astonished the group when she appeared in the living room to pose for photos with them. One of the chapterettes spilled a drink close to where the Snowlady was standing and someone quipped, “Look, she’s melting!” As she left, she apologized for showing up at the wrong house. Queen Madame Butterfly told her she was a highlight of the their party – a real Scarlet Sparkle! Back to the Top »01/13/06: "Tell me about yourself!" The Jazzy Red Hots (New Haven, Connecticut) was formed recently. Most of the ladies had not previously known each other, so they each took the time to tell something about themselves at their first gathering. As each shared personal tidbits, one new member named Diane (now known as Lady Crafty One) included a mention of her son, Bill. Queen Jazzmatazz (Robin B. Stewart) suddenly realized a connection between her and Lady Crafty One: The two of them had belonged to the same church a long time ago. Robin had led a youth group there, which had included Diane's son. Bill had even babysat for Robin's son (now 24). In Robin's words, "What a small Red Hat world!" Back to the Top »11/10/05: Queen Karol Singleton (Red Hat Society of Belleza, Pinellas Park, Florida) went with her chapter to get photos taken at the mall. The manager of the store gave them their photos as a gift, because they were such a fun group. (That, in itself, is a Scarlet Sparkle!) As the chapter was exiting the mall, a young girl approached them and asked if she could take their picture for her grandmother in Phoenix, Arizona. Queen Karol also gave the girl one of her RHS cards to send to her grandmother along with the photo. A few days later, the girl�s grandmother called Karol, and they immediately hit it off. Not long after that, the grandmother actually came to visit Karol in Florida, and now the two women now stay in touch daily! Says Karol: "...a young girl who wanted a photo...has now given me a life long dear, dear friend in Linda. We have grown so close..." That is a real Scarlet Sparkle! Back to the Top »6/3/05: Special Delivery Queen Charlotte Beasley (Southern Belles of Boca Raton, Florida) was in our online chat room and mentioned that she had been sad to discover that her Madame Alexander doll, saved from childhood, had suffered the ruination of her clothes after being stored in her damp basement. Not so many days later, Charlotte was amazed to receive a package in the mail from Queen Barbara Jones containing a little purple lace dress, tiny red lace gloves, red feather boa and bag and red hat made just for her doll! Charlotte says, �I was amazed how nice some red hatters can be, so giving and caring.� Back to the Top »4/22/05: Family Find Queen Katie Annis (New Reflections Red Hatters, West Branch, Michigan) forwarded us an email from one of her �loyal subjects� Barbara House. Barbara enjoys doing genealogy as a hobby and she says that �names sometimes always seem familiar� as she often helps others with their research. Barbara says, �This weekend I ran across some notes given to me by a cousin, many years ago, of a descent of my great grandparents. The surname was (is) Dziurman.� Barbara took a chance, looked the name up in the phone book and made the call. It turned out to be one of her chapterettes, Rita. Barbara says, �We are indeed sharing the same great grandparents and have been having lunch together via the Red Hats since last summer!� Back to the Top »3/11/05: Dollar Delight Queen Beverly Giardina formed her chapter (Royal Harborlite Hatters, Tavares, Florida) just last month. She put her email address and phone number on the intranet service of her community, Royal Harbor, so that other residents could contact her if they wanted to be a part of her new chapter. Another resident of the community read her message while she was in the community clubhouse. She asked her husband to jot down Beverly�s contact information for her. He had nothing to write on but a dollar bill, which he put to use. Some time later he spent that dollar. Here, in Beverly�s words, is the rest of the story: �Three days later, in Vero Beach, Florida, about 200 miles away, he was playing golf and at the clubhouse he bought something and he got that dollar back in his hand....Tonight, I went and had the dollar laminated and we will put it in our Red Hat scrapbook. We will be telling the story about that dollar for a long time.� Back to the Top »3/4/05: Royal Revelry Pam Dove Hasson, co-queen of the Mz-TEA-Rious Ladies of Long Beach, California says that a mistake was made when the balloons were delivered to her workplace for their annual Christmas party a couple of months ago. The colors that they had decided to use for the party were red and black. When they began to blow up the balloons, it was discovered that the �black� ones were actually purple! She says that the other committee members were flustered by the mix-up, but she was pleased! She persuaded her fellow decorators that the red and purple looked very festive, so they went ahead and decorated with them. Of course, those who knew that Pam was a Red Hatter were a little suspicious of the set-up! Back to the Top »2/11/05: Creative Connection Shirley Bayless, not yet a member of the Red Hat Society, emailed to tell us that she enjoyed reading The Red Hat Society: Fun and Friendship After Fifty. One particular story really resonated with her � nurse Shirley Schmid�s story about a decades-old cross-stitch of the poem, �Warning� and how it played a role in cementing a friendship between her and another member of our Society. Shirley Bayless has struggled with numerous, serious health problems for years and says that she �sure could use some fun.� She recounts that her mother, also a nurse, did a cross-stitch of that poem too, a very long time ago, and also loved wearing purple. When her mom died, two years ago, that cross-stitch was passed on to her. Another example of a nurse, a woman named Shirley, a cross-stitch of the famous poem, and the way it reentered a woman�s life. Shirley says, �Just a coincidence? I don�t think so! Thanks for being there!� Yes, she plans on joining us. Back to the Top »2/4/05: Lost & Found Here is a real Scarlet Sparkle, involving our own lovely Dame Scarlett, here at Hatquarters. Last week, she received an email from a woman named Svetlana, a shoe saleswoman in Vancouver, asking for our help. Svetlana had discovered that she had sent a customer home with a pair of mismatched purple Prada shoes � one a size 6, and the other a size 7. Since the customer had told her all about her membership in the Red Hat Society, Svetlana wondered if we could help her get in touch with this customer. Fortunately, Catherine Hawk (the purchaser) has registered her contact information with us as an individual member, and Dame Scarlett was able to call her. Catherine hadn�t had occasion to spot the mistake yet, but you can bet she was grateful � to both Svetlana and Dame Scarlett! And probably amazed, as well! It just goes to show that you can�t ever predict the ways that the Red Hat Society can help women connect! Who knows, maybe we haven�t even scratched the surface yet! Back to the Top »12/3/04: Act of Kindness This Scarlet Sparkle didn�t exactly come about by accident, but it was inspired by a chance gesture. Mary Marlette (Red Diamonds, Fair Oaks, California) has been teaching kindergarten for 30 years. Recently, a parent of one of her former student dropped by to let Mary know what her son (now 19) is doing these days (serving with the Marines in Iraq) and give her a photo of Scott in uniform. This inspired Mary to put the photo on the classroom bulletin board, right next to one of him as a kindergartener. The class has adopted Scott as their own personal hero and is sending him care packages. One of the activities that Mary has done with all of her classes for 30 years is to bake a gingerbread man in conjunction with reading them the story by that name. This little guy always runs away, of course. This time he ran all the way to Iraq, to be with Scott. One of the kindergartener�s parents also baked a smaller version of a gingerbread man and sent him to Scott to carry in his pocket for good luck on patrols. Scott emailed them, saying that so far it is working. This has been so rewarding that Mary has now started �Operation Candy Cane� with the entire student body of her school. All 600 students are making Christmas cards, attaching candy canes to them, and sending them to Scott for him to distribute to the other Marines in his platoon. Mary says, �It is our way of reaching out and saying thank you to these brave men and women serving our country.� They plan to continue their contact with our servicemen and women, observing every holiday or special occasion possible. Not every Scarlet Sparkle happens entirely by accident. Sometimes somebody initiates one! Back to the Top »10/29/04: Darling DH Kathy Burk of Ruby�s Ramblers and the Red Hot Roses in St. Paul, Minnesota, sent a story from the �St. Paul Pioneer Press� about a gentleman who visited a tearoom gift shop in another town to buy a red hat for his wife, who was turning 50 that very day. The proprietress suggested a hat box to put it in and he followed her into an adjoining room to look at those she had available. A group of Red Hatters happened to be having tea in this room and � what are the odds of this? - one of them was the man�s wife, whose friends had taken her out for a birthday lunch! All of the ladies were impressed by this husband�s thoughtfulness. The article ends with this: �He was hugged and kissed and praised by the ladies, and walked out with a big smile on his face and a big red hat in a flowered hatbox. What a guy!� Scarlet Sparkles happen to Red Hat husbands too! Back to the Top »9/17/04: Royal Reunions Helen Seredynsky, Queen Mother of The Red Hat Ladies, in Tucson, Arizona, was one of our Summer Sail-Away cruisers. She tells us that she experienced a serendipitous encounter with an Alaskan while strolling the streets of Juneau. The woman stopped her to ask her about her regalia and, after chatting a few moments, they discovered that this woman, originally from New York, knew Helen�s sister and her husband quite well, having been their travel agent for years. Helen dug into her Red Hat travel bag, pulled out a postcard, and had her new acquaintance write a hello to her sister right there and then. Sandra Chard, a member of the Red Cardinals of Fall River, Nova Scotia, was attending church camp this summer. One afternoon there was a guest speaker scheduled who was coming to introduce the attendees to the Red Hat Society concept. Since Sandra is a Red Hatter, she wore her purple and red to the gathering. Here�s what ensued, in Sandra�s words: �You can�t imagine the excitement when I heard the name of the guest speaker � Daphne McArthur. I hadn�t seen the Daphne I knew in about 40 years...As she approached the podium and said her first word, I knew it was the Daphne I had known. I couldn�t wait until she had finished her presentation so I could go chat with her. Much to my surprise another friend whom I had not seen for about the same length of time had accompanied Daphne there that afternoon...being a Red Hatter had caused me to feel I had been to �my fountain of youth.� And it is great to know our paths will probably cross again because of our Red Hat association.� Back to the Top »9/10/04: Dazzling Discovery This week�s Scarlet Sparkle was contributed by Princess Sue of The Red Hat Socialites in Monteagle-Sewanee, Tennessee. She relates that while attending her second-ever meeting of her chapter she found herself explaining how she had come to move from California to Tennessee. Something she said prompted an older woman in the chapter to ask for further details. Amazingly, Sue discovered that Dessie, another member of The Red Hat Socialites had been her nanny when she was three years old! Sue says, �I have Red Hats to thank very much for this discovery...because without having gone to that meeting I would never have known her.� Back to the Top » |