A message from the Queen Mum:

Mission statements are supposed to provide direction, and an over-riding compass that points you in the direction you've decided to go. Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye.....let it be known to all who are associated with Hell's Belles that we don't have a clue what direction we are headed! Therefore, there will be no mission statement, rather ... we will just use a six-letter word. That's IT! My motto is "KISMIF!" If you've never heard me say this, then you've never tried to complicate things for Hell's Belles! (Thanks!) I believe this works: Keep It Simple, Make It Fun.

With that settled, let me share that my governing belief ...and continued dream ...is that Hell's Belles will be a fulfilling, memorable, friend-filled, laughter-inducing, and life-enriching experience....each and every time we venture out!

Joyce Entremont, QM Hell's Belles

It was spring of 1993....

I was wandering around the gift shop of a hospital in Arlington, Virginia. My world was falling apart, my sanity was fading, my heart was breaking, and my mother was dying. She was upstairs somewhere, in an operating room, having a biopsy done, to be sure the x-rays weren't fooling anybody, and to be certain she had cancer.

I was frantically searching for some sort of token gift to give her when she came out. How do you find a gift to make a dying person feel better, ESPECIALLY when that person is your mom? How do you even look forward to tomorrow, when your mother is dying?  I was a basket case.

I'd circled the gift shop several times, I had plenty of time, before she would be awake, and I'd be able to get back to her. In the midst of my grief, and frantic search...there it was... "Warning" by Jenny Joseph!  I'd never seen it before, never heard about it, and certainly never read it. Before I realized, I was laughing out loud!  Mom had become rather eccentric in her later years, and this poem just brought it all home. I was in stitches!  I thought to myself, "I wish this place sold red hats!!  I know that would make her feel better, if only to laugh about it"

I didn't find a red hat that day. Mom never wore a red hat. A couple of years after her death, my sister sent me a framed "Warning." It has hung proudly on my kitchen wall ever since. That poem "hit" me at a low point in my life, but has become very dear to me.

When I heard about the Red Hat Society, about 3years ago...I was thrilled to know that others enjoy that poem as much as I.  It's simply amazing how many people it has inspired. I tossed around the idea of getting involved…and all I could think of were the many possibilities!!

I chatted with a few friends about starting a chapter, and procrastinated for months.  Eventually, we took an unofficial vote, and then ultimately settled on our chapter name. We didn't become "official" for a while, but when we finally decided to REALLY do it.... we jumped in headfirst!  Hell's Belles became a registered chapter in July of 2002...and I wear a red hat for Mom, and in her honor...every time we go out! I do have to say, that if she could see the ridiculously flamboyant accessories I add to my outfits...she'd probably have a fit! …. But then again…. she might just toss her head back, with a full-body laugh…. and say, “Oh, Hell’s bells…. WHY NOT?”

Joyce Entremont, Queen Mum Hell’s Belles       July 2004

Yes!…Mom actually used the expression “Hell’s bells!”