Easter celebrations at the Senior Center of South Pearl River County gave the attendees a chance to design custom Easter hats and parade them throughout the building for a panel of judges who lead the drawing classes at the Center.
“This is a lot of fun. Every day these folks are having a great time, laughing and really enjoying life to the fullest. This is just another time for them to celebrate and they really enjoy that,” David Sykes, Senior Center executive director, said.
To kick off the event, the Easter hat competition began with the judging of elaborately decorated hats in three categories: the silliest, most original and most beautiful.
As each contestant paraded around the room, they showed off their unique design as they twirled and posed for the audience like models on the catwalk.
“It’s really inspiring how energetic and fun they all are. They stay social and always have fun here. It was great to see all of them have fun walking around with their amazing hats,” Sykes said.
Once each contestant finished their lap around the room, the judges took a closer look at each person’s hat in order to come to a conclusion on who won each category.
After the judges deliberated, the winner for the silliest hat was Earl Kellar, who fashioned a plush bunny on top of a straw hat surrounded by glitter-covered eggs and fishing bobbers.
The winner for the most original hat went to Jane Blanks, who created the largest hat of the contest, decorated with a cut out drawing of a bunny, glitter butterflies and yellow chicks climbing foliage up to the top of the hat, which was decorated with a wooden cross and sprouting Easter eggs. The hat was also surrounded by a bed of eggs around the straw hat and lights to set off the ensemble.
The winner for the most beautiful hat went to Charlotte Stokes for designing an elegant and vibrant floral band around the front of the white hat. The back of the hat sported an Easter bonnet filled with lavender leaves and a yellow bow to tie the hat together.