April 13,14,15 - LODGE MURDER MYSTERY
________

or 

Would The Real Red Hat Please Stand Up

RED HATTERS

RED HATS

 Oops, Wrong Hat   

or 

Would The Real Red Hat Please Stand Up

            A group of Red Hat members mistakenly arrive at The Lodge on Wednesday night at what they thought was a “Red Hat Convention,” however it actually is a gathering for Red Hats (Combat Arms Instructors in the U.S. Air Force).

The Red Hat Society is a social organization for women over 50. The Society was founded in 1998 by Sue Ellen Cooper of Fullerton, California, and she serves as the organization's current president. As of October 2006 there are about 1.5 million registered members in over forty thousand chapters in the United States and thirty other countries.

The Red Hat Society fondly refers to itself as a “dis-organization” with the aim of social interaction, and to encourage fun, silliness, creativity, and friendship in middle age and beyond. The Society is not a sorority or a voluntary service club. There are no initiations or no fundraising projects.

A founder or leader of a local chapter is usually referred to as a “Queen”. Members are called “Red Hatters”. Members over fifty years old wear red hats and purple attire to all functions. A woman under age fifty may also become a member, but she wears a pink hat and lavender attire to the Society's events until reaching her fiftieth birthday.

Both Red and Pink Hatters often wear very elaborately decorated hats, and attention-getting fashion accessories such as a feather boa at the group's get-togethers. The Society's events vary depending on the chapter, but one of the more favored pastimes amongst most Red Hatters is attending or giving a tea party.

The United States Air Forces’ “Red Hats” are members of a dying breed of Airman as the military moves further into the 21st Century. They are proud individuals who once belonged to a career field which received their names because of the bright red ball caps identifying them as Combat Arms Instructors.

These “Red Hats” train base personnel on various “small arms”, including M-16 series rifles, M9 (9mm) Beretta pistol, M203 grenade launcher, MK19 automatic grenade launcher, shotgun, M60 machine gun, and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. They can also be qualified to teach the 81MM mortar and the .50 cal machine gun. “Regular” base personnel can only get trained on the M16 or the M9; security forces members (formerly security police) can receive training on all other weapons systems. They teach marksmanship fundamentals (that is, how to hit your target!), care and cleaning, and basic field maintenance.

They are also authorized and trained to perform a higher level of maintenance on the weapons than the field user. For instance, tightening loose barrels or replacing those that have worn out; rebuilding and/or replacing weapons assemblies and groups; or determining if a weapon needs to be destroyed. Many Red Hats have to be able to troubleshoot each weapon when a problem is reported and be able to put it back into service.

Sadly, their long-standing and proud tradition is being dissolved as the Air Force moves into a new era and the Red Hats merge with the Security Forces career field. The “Red Hats” are now considered a “shred-out” career field where they once stood independently. Many of the “Red Hats” find themselves confused and upset at their unpleasant “de-organization” and untimely forced retirement, but, they know in their hearts who they are and where they came from. They still believe fiercely in their motto: “I am a Combat Arms Instructor. We train in peace, to prepare for war.”

Everything is going fine despite the “Red Hats” feeling their party has been intruded upon until the leader of the Red Hat Society, Queen Coral Mauve, and one of the Air Force members, Senior Airman Olivia Drabe, are found murdered in Mauve’s room.

Suspicious of the Red Hats and their secretive ways toward the other visitors, Cloudcroft Police Chief Forest Green begins an investigation. Further confusion is added when Chief Green begins interviewing guests and discovers there are more “red” visitors than originally expected.

Hope to see you there !!

MWare- Web Designer &
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