VERO BEACH — Rotary Club of Vero Beach Oceanside, a recently formed happy hour group of business and non-profit professionals, donned bonnets, chapeaux, helmets and even tiaras for a Hat Parade to benefit the Paul Harris Foundation. Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company sponsored the Oceanside Hat Parade, awarding the winner a case of fresh squeezed orange juice and $100 donation to the Paul Harris Foundation in the winner’s name. Riverside Theatre’s Artistic Director, Allen Cornell, and Sales Director, Eric Paris, judged the parade, awarding the winner two tickets to an upcoming Riverside Theatre production.Elaine Jones, the club secretary, swept the categories for hat, hattitude and je-ne-sais-quoi. Her bonnet featured a squirrel standing on two hind legs, a flying squirrel and a duck. Bob Jones, a taxidermist, custom made the hat for his wife. In 1902, Paul Harris founded Rotary in Chicago. The original club met for lunch, rotating each week from one member’s office to another’s. The Paul Harris Foundation raises money to fund the work of Rotary International, which has succeeded in eradicating polio worldwide. The organization is subsidized by the interest accrued from the funds, returning the capital back to local rotary districts to be used for civic projects. Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company, owned by Marygrace Sexton of Vero Beach and located in Fort Pierce, is a sponsor of the 2010 Atlanta Steeplechase Hat Parade. The company is generating interest in its juices by sponsoring pre-event promotions with nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. The Hat Parade at Rotary Club of Vero Beach Oceanside was the first of a series of contests. For more information, contact Lisa Rymer at (772)465-1122 or [email protected].
