Bee Bubner and Julie Nolan of the Fabulous Fuchsias.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
With a swish of bandanna-clad hairdos, Fabulous Fuchsias, Bee Bubner and Julie Nolan turned to the camera and grinned. They raised their hands and spread index and middle fingers in the universal sign of peace.
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If you distilled the spirit of the counter-culture movement of the 1960s-70s and put it all in a room, you’d end up with something resembling the Fabulous Fuchsias’ first birthday party at the Barooga Hotel last week.
At least 70 women, each bedecked in their version of the party’s Flower Power theme, filled The Veranda at the Barooga Hotel on Wednesday, February 26.
Tocumwal’s Fabulous Fuchsias Co-Queen Hazel Janson is a founding member of her local Red Hatters branch.
“We thought we’d celebrate like this because we have a flowery name - Fabulous Fuchsias - so why not have a Flower Power party,” Mrs Janson said.
Members came out from across the district’s branches, including, but not limited to, the Fabulous Fuchsias, the Shepparton Ageless Angels, the Finley Fillies, the Kyabram Steenagers, Echuca’s Murray Border Belles and Numurkah’s Salt ‘n Pepper.
Tocumwal Fabulous Fuchsias Co-Queens Hazel Janson and Kim Whitten.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
For Bee Bubner, who retired to Tocumwal last year with her husband, joining the Fuchsias has provided her a social outlet she wouldn’t get anywhere else.
As someone new to the area, Mrs Bubner said the ladies at the Red Hatters have been very welcoming.
“It gets you out and about and meeting people,” she said.
More than that, however, the Fuchsias have helped Mrs Bubner land on her feet in her new locale.
“There are lots of women who have local knowledge,” she said.
“I think that’s very important when you’re new to town.”
Friendship is something that has also kept Mrs Janson coming back for more.
“It’s been great because we’ve made so many friends,” Mrs Janson said.
“What it’s about is connecting people over 50s because a lot of ladies, when their kids leave home, you do get a bit lonely.”
If you are under 50, fear not: younger women are able to join the Red Hatters as ‘pinkies’, Mrs Janson said.
She said it’s also about growing old gracefully.
“And I reckon, looking at us, that’s true,” Co-Queen Kim Whitten said.
The Fabulous Fuchsias meet twice a month, but the pair emphasised there are no obligations attached.
Deb palmer, Fiona Hackett and Lorraine Tainton.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
Known for their distinctive purple clothing and eponymous red hats, the society promotes women’s wellbeing and strives to help them get the most out of life.
The organisation was founded in 1998 in the US, but has since spread around the world with branches across Australia.
Mrs Janson said that so many of their members would say they were home bound until joining the group.
“Even if it only gets them out twice a month, they’re out and about and enjoying meeting people,” she said.
