Red Hat Party

My husband Will's Aunt Skip turned 8o two years ago, December. We knew she would not be surprised by a party if we threw it at the appropriate time and we definitely wanted to knock her socks off. After much deliberation we decided to have it the preceding August at our camp.
A BBQ was planned and friends and family were all invited.

Aunt Skip is a member of the Red Hat Society, a club that brings retired women together for luncheons, visits to museums and the like, and the only requirement is that they wear a red hat and something purple whenever they get together. It seemed fitting to make the red hat a theme for our party and everyone invited had to wear one.

We congregated at camp a few hours before Aunt Skip was due to arrive, stacking presents, firing up the barby, soaking corn on the cob, putting beer and soda on ice and preparing for the presentation of the welcoming "unbirthday" banner.


Our plans were a marvelous success and dear Aunt Sip was totally flabbergasted! The look of complete astonishment on her face as her son Mike walked her into camp continues to make me smile. We bought her a red hat, I made paper flowers for decoration and we presented it to her in keeping with the dress code.

A few red hats up close...

...and everyone assembled for a photo op in front of camp. The party was a huge success and guests gathered around the campfire after dinner to linger long into the night. I see them now, in my minds eye, sitting together near the blazing fire, and I hear voices and laughter echoing across the Black River Valley.