Wednesday, March 6, 2002

Parade of hats at Heritage Club meeting

Hats were on almost every head at the sold-out Regions Bank Heritage Club luncheon in February. There were tacky hats, ugly hats, strange hats, beautiful hats, old hats, sporty hats. Almost every hat imaginable was represented at the event.

Awards were given to those who wore the fanciest, tackiest, sportiest, hat with the best history, the oldest and the most original.

Chuck Noble was the top winner in the Most Original category. He took a fedora-style hat, made a band of jelly beans and turned his hat into a beanie. Not to be outdone, his daughter glued a bunch of pill boxes to her hat to make a pillbox hat. Some of you may remember those!

Ms. Marian Moessner wore a beautiful white hat, complete with feathers, to win in the Fanciest category. She said she felt like Robin Hood. The hat almost qualified for the oldest, as she purchased it 35 years ago at Rich's.

Bruce Deacon won the Tackiest without a question. The umbrella hat may protect him in the rain, but it didn't protect him from the laughter as he ate his lunch and visited with friends.

Jean Woods hat won in the Best History category. The hat was worn by her father, a Shrine Clown. The hat had numerous tears held together by pins, which was appropriate as her father's "clown name" was "Pins."

Roger Walker's hat even had a title, "Springtime." For many, thoughts of sunshine and flowers pop into their heads when the think of spring. Not so for Walker. He thinks of the Braves and baseball, hence the large red foam tomahawk proudly set atop his baseball cap.

Ray Chaney's air raid hat nabbed the Oldest award. The hat he wore was not his father's, although his father wore one exactly like it as an air raid warden during the war. During drills, his father donned the hat and walked the streets, knocking on doors and telling people to turn their lights off or pull down their black-out shades.

There were runners up in each category. A panel of six judges were responsible for choosing the top winners. Ryan Huber, Larry DeMoss, Pam Perry, Warren Edge, Hugh Brown and Rick Hodges all spent time talking with the many hat wearers at the luncheon before picking the best of the bunch.

The room was a hall of history. Marilyn Darmody wore the Eastern Airlines hat she first put on her head as a flight attendant (stewardess in days gone by) in 1955. Santa Claus pulled out his red hat to wear for the event. Others decorated stray hats with flowers or borrowed hats from their friends and relatives.

The next Regions Bank Heritage Club luncheon will be at Whitewater Country Club April 24. Attendees will have a chance to sing along to Broadway tunes and win prizes. For more information, call Elena Baker at 770-632-4514 or Gina Weathersby at 770-253-8080.

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