Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  Five years ago, Jan Tafoya gathered a bunch of Nederland area women to join the national Red Hat Society, just for fun. They agreed not to be political, not to fund raise, not to sponsor anyone for anything and not to conform to anyone’s idea of what growing older should look like.

The Ned Red Hats met once a month in February to eat lunch and giggle and if they so desired, to wear hats of every kind.

After a couple of years, in keeping with their mountain identity, they decided to leave the Red Hat Society and go off on their own.

Tofoya says, “It didn’t make sense to pay fees to an organization that didn’t give anything in return.”

So they continued to do exactly what they wanted to do, eat and enjoy each other’s company.

Mostly they choose local restaurants but sometimes they go down below for special occasions, like St. Patrick’s Day. Their first meeting took place at the Pioneer Inn and last Tuesday, their fifth year anniversary took place, also at the Pioneer Inn.

Some of the women wore red hats, some wore fuzzy hats and some didn’t wear hats at all. They can do that, they can choose not to be defined by anyone’s rules.

What they all did was eat lunch. And talk. And laugh. And sometimes they even sing a song or two, if they can remember the words.