Jackson Free Press

One Thursday evening last November, I saw a group of women dressed in purple, the odd bit of red plumage on their bright red hats, listening to Rhonda Richmond sing "Mood Indigo" upstairs at the Mississippi Museum of Art's Jazz, Art and Friends. Turned out those ladies were members of one of the Jackson area's at least eight official Red Hat Society chapters—they call themselves the Divine Dixie Divas. I knew two and finagled an invitation to one of their future monthly meetings, realizing this diverse group surely had a story or two to tell.

That's how I ended up upstairs at the 930 Blues Café on a Thursday night in February, my 78-year-old mother, Edna Earle, in tow. Eight of the ladies were still in attendance by the time we made it up the stairs.

The Divine Dixie Divas got their start last year when several ladies wearing red hats, just by chance, arrived at the annual Kentucky Derby party thrown by Kay Wise, 51, and her husband. Like gossip in a small town, talk of forming their own Red Hat Society spread woman-to-woman. By June, the Divine Dixie Divas, registered online at http://www.redhatsociety.com, had held their first meeting at Julep.

Wise, known in Red Hat Society lingo as the chapter's Queen Mother, says her husband is all for it, too. "If I say I might not go, [he] will say, 'You need to go. I think you have your priorities wrong—you need to go out and have some fun.'"

That's just what they do, Cheryl McNinch, 55, explained. "Women that have reached maturity realize that getting older doesn't mean the end of your life," she said, preaching to the choir since I'm 56 and, along with Edna Earle, often just wanna have fun. Sixty-one-year old Sally Minter, in administration at an engineering firm, explained, "I'm a typical Capricorn and have been serious since I was a child. Only as I've aged have I finally relaxed and had fun."

At some establishments, these vibrant ladies are officially known as senior citizens. Not in their own minds, though. Sherrill Gibson, 66, proudly pointed out that when her previous job told her she had to retire, "I didn't think I was old enough to retire … and even though I'm married, I'm not too old to appreciate a good-looking man." She now works with Wise and McNinch at the Mississippi Nurses Association. Dorothea Brock, 54, a litigation specialist who had returned to Jackson to care for her 85-year-old father, discovered she "needed a group to have fun with, to run around with … this group is so interesting, and we probably wouldn't have gotten together any other way."

"I love that I've made some wonderful new friends and that I don't have to wait until I'm old to wear purple," Sarah Wallace, 56, said. She's a nurse practitioner at Rankin General as well as a colonel and medical review officer in the Army National Guard.

Pam Clark, a legal assistant who loves shoes, including her man-magnet turquoise-blue alligator cowboy boots, told me, "The fun, fellowship and just being yourself," are the reasons she's enjoyed getting out with the girls. Antique dealer Lynda Speaks, 55, said. "We're secure about who we are … wild and wacky," she quipped. Then, she said, "Look at your Mama!"

As Ironing Board Sam performed, some Divine Dixie Divas and my Mama were up dancing with a tall, white-haired man none of them knew from Adam, having the time of their lives. Goals accomplished—I got my story, and they had their fun. I'm just wondering if I need to take Edna Earle red-hat shopping.