Twenty-five tables were decorated in different themes at the Main Hall at Fun N Sun last week as the Rio Grande Valley Red Hat Queen Council held their Festival of Tables. It was a day filled with seeing old friends and making new ones. It was a sea of red hats and purple regalia – although there was one younger pink hatter in the crowd.
The festival is held every year, typically at the beginning of February. It’s an afternoon to get all of the Red Hatters in the Valley together for some comradery, food, fun, entertainment, and raffles.
The doors opened just before 11 a.m. so you could get your seating assignment – drawn from a basket so you can hopefully sit with someone you don’t know – and walk around to view the many different tables. Queens take time to come up with a theme and buy and decorate their tables according to that theme.
I sat at a Mexican themed table this year. It was decorated with the traditional colors, had baskets of Mexican candy, brightly colored pottery plates and table runners, and a wonderful cookbook full of spicy meal ideas. My hostesses were Luann Goldberg and Carole Langlois.
As you walked around the room, you could see a Valentine’s Day table of red and white with hearts; a Winter Wonderland themed table; a lemon themed table with lemonade; Elvis; Bumble Bees; Irish table with greens; a brightly colored Mardi Gras table, a patriotic table with U.S. flags and other red, white, and blue items; a minions table that featured a large yellow minion in his blue overalls; a Frosty themed table featuring pastel colored glass Christmas trees; and even a Nebraska themed table.
You can tell the ladies put so much effort into their creations. Many use their own decorations they enjoy at home. As soon as this event is done, planning for the following year begins for the coordinators, and for the participants.
Sheila Durham, member of the RGV Queens Council, welcomed everyone and said that it was wonderful to look out and see such beautifully decorated, creative tables and so many smiling faces. Standing on stage to start the event, she added that she was thankful that this wasn’t a competition, because it would be very hard to choose just one table as the best.
Many of those in attendance are Winter Texans and try to plan ahead on what they are going to do for their table, so they know if it is something they might want to pack when they come back next year or not.
The ladies I sat with talked about their events they attend in the Valley and at their summer home. Two of the ladies were very much into drama and putting on plays. They talked about the events they have in their parks with Langlois saying she comes to the Valley to play.
The ladies had cupcakes already at their tables – Afterall dessert should be eaten first. Lunch consisted of a delicious chicken salad croissant, mixed veggies with ranch dressing, and a cup of mixed fruit.
After lunch, entertainment was provided by Rick McEwen. He performed many of his Kenny Rogers songs and threw in some extras for the group of ladies.
Some special songs were Lady in Red, The Twist, and Elvira. Many ladies got up and danced and did line dances. He ended his show with YMCA which had the room of ladies up on their feet participating.
The event ended with the raffle prizes and silent auction winners being announced. There were also special prizes drawn for a nice pencil and pen set, some lounge chairs, VSA tickets, and Dolphin Watch Cruises.
Plans are already underway for next year’s event. If you would like to stay up to date with the details, we will start announcing when tickets are available, usually in December. You don’t have to be a Red Hatter to attend the event, although it makes it more fun if you come with a group of your friends.
Information about becoming a Red Hatter, or making your own group, can be found online at www.redhatsociety.com or you can get in touch The RGV Red Hat Queen Sandy ‘Finny’ Funk at fur-fin-fun@gmail.com. It’s all about having fun with your friends – and eating dessert first.
