If You Want to Get Ahead - Get a Hat
Members of SI Crosby joined their sister Soroptimists from Bootle and Southport in the annual 3-clubs evening. This year the host club, SI Bootle, organised a “Mrs Shilling Race Night”.
David Shilling, as a teenager, designed a hat for his mother to wear at the Ascot race meeting. This hat earned him a place in British design history: three foot wide, black and white, it established a tradition. Gertrude subsequently wore a different creation every year for 30 years until her death in 1999. Though not in the same league, the Soroptimists devised a wide variety of headgear - artistic, beautiful, colourful or just eccentric. Imagination had free rein.
The six races - achieved by means of a set of giant dice and a chequered “race-track” - encouraged much audience participation as the “horses” raced away or, more often than not, ambled along. No fortune was made and, thankfully, none was lost.
The 3-clubs meeting is an established tradition - an evening of fun, friendship and relaxation.