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Kay Jones of Hanover Township, right, tries on a purple hat as her friend Peggy Malkemes of Hanover Township looks on during the Red Hat Society’s luncheon on April 23 at Genetti’s Hotel & Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

Susan Shattuck, left, and Jeanne Butters of the Hugga Bears Red Hats from Canton arrive at the Genetti’s Hotel & Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre for a Red Hat Society event. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

Hazel Markowski of Nanticoke wears glittering jewelry at the Red Hat Society’s luncheon at Genetti’s in Wilkes-Barre. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

Nancy Casale of Pocono Lake ponders whether to buy a new red hat during the Red Hat Society Convention at Genetti’s. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

WILKES-BARRE — The hat sported scarlet sequins, a wealth of red feathers and even some dangling rhinestone jewelry strategically placed to look like a stripper’s pasties.

Yes, Nancy Casale, 71, from Pocono Lake said, this particular hat — one of dozens vendors were selling during a Red Hat Convention at Genetti’s on a recent Thursday — seemed to incorporate the effect of a shimmering red bra.

Should Casale add it to her collection of red millinery? After all, she only had about 35 or 40 in her collection already.

“She is seriously buying this hat,” her friend Millie King, 70, urged her on.

“I’m getting so many compliments, I just might have to buy it,” Casale said, eyeing the $90 price tag. “I feel like a Vegas showgirl.”

When some 350 Red Hatters were on hand for their convention, a lot of shopping was going on at Genetti’s. There were hats of various sizes and shapes, long-sleeved red gloves, ruby-red earrings and various purple accessories as well.

“We wear purple on our birthdays,” Kay Jones of Hanover Township explained.

But joining the Red Hat Society — a group of women ages 50 and older who are intent on enjoying life — is not just about wearing certain colors.

“The common denominator is a need for fellowship,” said Oradell Banker, a semi-retired instructor of nursing from Mehoopany, who founded the La Tri O group. “You can find that with two people or 200 or 500. And you can be as elaborate, or as reserved, as you want.”

A poem written by an Englishwoman named Jenny Joseph sums up the Red Hat spirit, Fran Goldman of Dallas said.

Goldman, who as founder of the Back Mountain Laurels gets to be queen of that Red Hat group “for life, or until I want to give it up,” quoted a few lines from the poem about wearing purple with a red hat, sitting right down on the sidewalk if you’re tired and making up for a more circumspect youth by doing whatever will make you happy when you’re older.

In keeping with that spirit, Susan Shattuck said her group of Red Hats from the Canton area in Bradford County has gone kite flying.

And, Jones from Hanover Township and her friend Peggy Malkemes, who sported a red feather boa, said members of their group enjoy taking turns hosting Red Hat pajama parties.

Do they stay up until dawn?

“Well, no,” Jones said. “We have breakfast at 8 a.m., so we go to sleep earlier.”

As the hundreds of Red Hats sat down to a luncheon, the banquet room seemed to be filled almost entirely with women — except for Bern Kratz from Souderton.

“I’m their driver,” he said, explaining he had brought 15 women from Souderton in Northampton County.

“We asked him if he’d like to wear a hat,” Ruth Brunstetter said. “But I think he felt it was too gaudy.”

It’s not that, Kratz said, but he learned as a child that men don’t wear hats indoors, especially not while they’re eating.

As for the women, they seemed to revel in their red attire.

“It makes me feel energetic,” said King, from the Poconos, who had borrowed a friend’s hat for the day. “Red is a vivacious color.”