IMPORTANT NOTICE

Apparently, according to some emails being distributed, "some" Queen Mothers and/or Queens Councils are telling their members it is OK to just continue to pay the $39 Chapter fee to the RHS but to
 "not bother to pay the $20 PER MEMBER membership fee".

The RHS has made it VERY CLEAR that:

If you have not paid your individual $20 membership fee:

YOU ARE NO LONGER A RED HATTER 
AND NO LONGER A MEMBER OF THE RED HAT SOCIETY. 

In fact, the RHS has apparently told some who've called them recently that they will take legal action against those who do not pay the $20.00.  

If you pay the $39 you are a member but your chapter is NOT a member of the RHS and may not attend red hat events or call themselves a red hatter. 
Your members are not red hatters and may not refer to themselves as such and may not participate in red hat events. The RHS is asking that each person attending an event be asked to show their official membership card. 

For whatever reason, some Queens are not sharing this IMPORTANT information with their chapters.

Payment of the $20 is not an OPTION but is MANDATORY.
The date this payment was due was June 1st 2009 but in the Queen to Queen Broadcast of May 14th this date was extended to December 2009. 

If your Queen did not share this important information with you it is posted here - with a full explanation of the new membership rules and what you receive for your $20 membership fee.

If you do not wish to pay the $20 you are no longer a red hatter or a member of the RED HAT SOCIETY.

If you wish to continue as a red hatter and call yourself a red hatter and belong to the RHS then you MUST pay the $20.00 - every single member in your chapter must pay the $20. 
(One local B.C. chapter must pay over $1900.00/year to belong now.)

Remember - payment is due no later than December 2009