Red Hat Society in Nederland
Ontwerp en copyright
Red Hats Limbourgh
Introduction
It
was
more
or
less
by
accident
that
The
Red
Hat
Society
came
into
being.
It
all
started
when
a
lady
from
California
by
the
name
of
Sue
Ellen
Cooper
decided
to
give
her
friend
Linda
Murphy
a
red
hat
for
her
50th
birthday,
accompanied
by
the
poem
"Warning"
by
Jenny
Joseph.The
first
sentence
of
that
poem
reads:
"When
I
am
an
old
woman
I
shall
wear
purple,
with
a
red
hat
which
doesn't
go
and
doesn't
suit
me…"
In
other
words:
Who cares? I don't!
The
gift
was
a
great
success
and
soon
other
friends
were
starting
to
follow
suit.
When
Ms.
Cooper
and
a
group
of
friends
all
went
out
for
tea
one
day
decked
out
in
purple
clothes
and
wearing
red
hats,
The
Red
Hat
Society
was
born.
After
a
wave
of
publications
in
the
written
press
and
an
appearance
on
the
Today
Show
in
the
U.S
.in
2000
the
Society
took
off on a national, and from there International, scale.
You cannot become a Red hatter, being a
Red Hatter is in you: it's a matter of mind!
At
the
end
of
February
2005
an
article
appeared
in
the
Dutch
newspaper
NRC/Handelsblad.
It
was
this
article
that
spurred
the
start
of
the
Society
in
the
Netherlands.
Who
would
have
thought
so
many
women
would
be
inspired!
There
are
now
more than one million Red Hat members worldwide!
At
present
we
have
more
than
100
active
chapters
in
The
Netherlands,
and
surely
there
will
be
more
to
follow….
We
are
not
an
organization
with
any
fixed
objective,
and
neither
are
we
in
any
manner
a
religious
or
political
organization.
We
have
no
rules,
other
than
being
over
50.
In
fact,
we
call
ourselves
a
dis-organization.
Our
only
purpose
is
fun
and
friendship
after
50.
Gaining
higher
visibility
for
women
in
our
age-group
and
reshaping
the
way
society
views
us
is
an
added
bonus.
Dressing
up
in
splashy
colors
and
donning
a
Red Hat is a way of expressing the fun spirit which resides within us.
Age
is
a
matter
of
mind:
if
you
don't
mind,
it
doesn't
matter!
The
feeling
of
"togetherness",
friendship,
and
just
getting
to
know
others
in
our
age-group
is
an
exciting
and
wonderful
experience!
Women
over
50
are
teaming
up!
Not
only
here
in
The
Netherlands,
but
all
over
the
planet! We are the Red Hatters! Fantastic!
This
site
was
published
due
to
the
tremendous
reactions
after
a
TV
broadcast
at
the
Dutch
public
canal
two
at
17
november
2005
covering
the
first
Dutch
national
convention
at
Utrecht.
The
Dutch
Red
Hat
Society
at
that
time
was
not
that
huge
and
some
chapters
received
hundreds
of
mails
asking
for
information.
Some
Queens
asked
the
question
why
we
do
not
start
a
Dutch
information
page
in
our
own
language
and
so
for
everybody in the Netherlands to understand.
There
is
no
main
organisation
of
the
Red
Hat
Society
in
the
Netherlands.
All
Dutch
chapters
are
members
of
the
motherorganisation
in
America.
So
in
the
Netherlands
we
do
not
have
a
superqueen
or
chairman.
All
Dutch
queens
are
their
own
boss
in
their
own
kingdom.
This
page
is
not
an
official
page
for
the
red
hat
society Netherlands, because an official red hat society Netherlands does not excist.
Jenny Joseph's original poem, where it is all about.
WARNING
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
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when Im tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other peoples gardens
And learn to spit
The original article from NRC/Handelsblad can be found , klick NRC/Handelsblad
(Sorry, only in Dutch)
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