Out to Lunch with the Red Hat Society

Finally, the weather cooperated to make the third weekly Out to Lunch event a huge success. There was no rain, no snow and only pleasant breezes instead of bluster. The crowds came out, and the food lines were long, during the lunch hour.

The highlight of the day was an annual gathering of the Red Hat Society. There was a hat competition, and two birthdays were celebrated. Here are the birthday girls with the winning hat in the background.





Here's a close up of the winning hat, although my angle doesn't show the Stevensville Yellow Jacket properly. Another view of the winning hat follows.


And here's the fourth place hat and its creator.

This hat didn't even place in the competition, and I think it should have, but then I didn't get to see the second and third place hats. They were already gone, before I discovered this group of terrific women.


Going down Higgins to Caras Park, I encountered Mark and Rocket, whose seasonal farm work in Wisconsin was flooded out, playing for gas money to Portland. They were also selling CDs, recorded in New Orleans with their full band. They were playing an eclectic mix of gypsy folk, which sometimes sounded like klezmer music.

Coming back up Higgins, after Out to Lunch, I stopped to chat and take more photos.




Their band, the Crooked Speculum Ensemble is scattered around the country. The van, they are driving has a 20 gallon tank, and doesn't get spectacular mileage. It will take two tanks to reach Portland. I urged them not to hurry off, but to enjoy this sweet place known as Missoula.