A guest, y'all!

Please don’t stop reading when you hear this, but your most gracious host has actually allowed a guest posting from someone who was raised by… Yankees. If you bear with me, I will try my hardest to convert all my “yous guys” to “Y’alls.” On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to have been invited to Jeannette Rankin Women's Scholarship Fund (http://www.rankinfoundation.org/) Annual High Hat Tea and Silent Auction. A tea party! With hats!

Lovely friends of the Leisurely Lady, I do not even own a hat that does not have a bill and a fine layer of grime covering a random UGA symbol, so I needed the help of a true Southern lady for this party. So with about 15 minutes to spare before the event was to begin, I run over to The Lady’s house and she saved my day, a stunning black hat (equipped with a purple sash and white flowers & plume, which magically and perfectly matched my dress & black shoes) fit to compete for Kentucky Derby honors.

At the event, women from all over our Classic City were decked in their finest and adorning beautiful and large hats. The main floor hosted the silent auction, with about 120 items up for bid. I myself threw down a bid on a session at Pints and Paints for 9 of my closest friends, and I did so for the following reasons;

1.     All proceeds were going to the Jeannette Rankin Women’s Scholarship to support women obtaining higher forms of education, a cause I truly believe in.

2.     I was lucky enough to have been sponsored to attend this event, so I threw down what would have been the cost of the ticket.

3.     It’s painting sessions while you are drinking with your 9 closest friends! I can not even begin to fathom what new colors I could invent given that scenario.

Alas (is that Southern or Shakespearean?), I was outbid, and I ventured into the main auditorium where more guest were mingling. A woman approached me and said that I looked like a lady to know, then proceeded to introduce herself as the new elected mayor of our fair city! I was a little overwhelmed, but she complimented my hat (Sorry, Lady, it’s now mine for the rest of the story), and I tried to keep the awkward, flailing arms to a minimum (I believe it’s a Yankee trait). She would later receive the “Atta Girl Award” for being a women of distinction in our community, and the silent auction item of having a lunch with her was one of the largest selling items, but don’t y’all (see, I did it) forget who’s hat she complimented first!

And continuing about this hat of mine, there were hidden judges in the crowd, handing out invitations if they liked your hat to be part of the High Hat Parade, and I actually got one! When the program began they requested that everyone who received a card come forward to start the march. Previously I had spied another young lady with a card and I told her that we should go up together. I was very candid that my intention would be that my hat was large enough that I would be able to block her from the judges’ view. She simply giggled at me. Well, then my competitive spirit was awakened and I was ready to walk my hat for all that it was worth, and readers this hat has made it through a Project Runway Party or two, so it’s solid gold in my book! We line up and start our parade, and she has the audacity to skip. It was virtually impossible to divert attention away from her. Of course, when the judges’ decisions had been made, she received honorable mention in the junior hat category. She was 9 and had made her hot pink hat that day at the numerous children’s tables at the event. Some girls have all the luck!

I shook it off because the live action was up next and the prizes were doozies. A week stay at a 12 person cabin, a week stay at a 9 person beach house, a super insane spa day package, and what I would like to refer to as, “Better Things to do with Gardening Equipment than Garden.”

What you are seeing is a wheelbarrow full of over $450 worth of imbibe-ments. If it looks blurry, that would be because my tears at the sight of such beauty were almost too much to steady my little phone still. Hanging from the sides were even gifts certificates for Terrapin Tours and Trapeze Gift cards. I tipped my hat, and gave that auctioneer a look of determination that said, “that barrow of fun” would be mine. The bidding started at $50, my hand went up. Then $100, I was right there again. Then $200… now wait a minute, what happened to the $50 increments? Before I could make sense of the transition that wheelbarrow went for $700! Wonderful for both the Jeannette Rankin Foundation and for PBR, the beverage of settling that I will carry on with until next year’s event.

The event concluded with slideshows, lectures, and accolades to the women of JRF. It was exciting to see what the women of my community were doing for low income women in this country, and in the namesake of Jeannette Rankin, the first women in the US Congress. It made me feel empowered to have not worn any pantyhose, but please don’t tell The Lady! One of the scholarship recipients was flown in from California to be a guest speaker. When she had applied for the JRF scholarship she entitled her essay, “It’s My Turn Now,” the same she would use for her college admissions essay to Spellman University. She had worked hard to put her own to daughters through college, the first of their family, as a single mother, and now she is getting a higher degree so that she could help others. She was breath-taking, and in an adorable white pill box hat no less. A surprise was bestowed upon her at the end of the event, in which a request was made of the party-goers to make a donation so that a scholarship could be made in the name of the woman, again who was herself a past and present scholarship winner! Well, I did not get all dressed up for nothing and maybe the spirit of The Lady lingers in our hat, but I marched myself right up there too. Plus, I’m that kinda girl that just has to spend some money when I go places. They raised enough to fund a scholarship in less than 10 minutes. I will always be amazed by the generosity of women who possess as much gumption as fresh flowers in their hats.

I will say this for the event, I did not see any tea, but I found the cash bar and a renewed sense of sisterhood, starting with a very last minute phone call simply to borrow a hat from a friend.

On the fondest behalf of The Lady,

KT