Red Straw Hats

by Jennifer Kovalich

BOSTON — Give Donna Hayes of Owensboro, Ky., a red straw hat and she knows how to turn it into a political fashion statement.

The Kentucky woman was among the more colorfully attired delegates at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night at the Fleet Center.

With red, white and blue balloons bobbing over the brim of the hat adorned with a streaming patriotic bow on the back and Kerry-Edwards pins across the band, Hayes was hard to miss.

"Anything to get noticed," she said. "Hats are kind of a Kentucky tradition."

Delegates from around the United States are wearing their party allegiance on their head as well as their sleeves and feet.

Wilhelmina Moore, a delegate from Philadelphia, Pa., said dressing up helps provide solidarity.

"I think when you come to a convention like this you need to," she said.

Moore's ensemble was a sight to behold from a wreath of flags and $12.99 string of red beads around her neck that light up to the spinning red, white and blue whirl-i-gigs that protruded from the brim of her white hat.

She thought she had thought of every way to garb herself in the colors of the nation's flag — until she saw another delegate's tri-colored sneakers.

"I was hating him because I wanted them," she said with a laugh.

Compared to their counterparts, including Hawaii delegates wearing flowing dresses and leis to an Oregon delegate in an Uncle Sam hat and a New Mexico delegate whose hat was adorned with model-sized astronauts and Columbia space shuttle and whose brim was bordered with plastic red chili peppers, Massachusetts delegates have displayed a much more conservative style.

"New Englanders are somewhat staid and conservative," said Ernest Correia, a Lakeville businessman. "In their hearts they have a lot of energy, a lot of high spirit."

Correia sported several political pins on a lanyard that was draped around his neck.

Of the Massachusetts delegates, Mernaysa Rivera, of Boston, stood out in a red, white and blue hat.

Many members of the Massachusetts delegation wore polo shirts or khakis topped with cardigans or sportcoats.

Hayes, the Kentucky delegate, also wore chino pants and red loafers. She attended the 2000 convention in Los Angeles, Calif., and was dressed up more then.

"I consciously made the decision to be more comfortable and I guess everyone did too," Hayes said.

E.G. "Red" Lackey, a Florida delegate whose business card identifies him as "a Yellow Dog Democrat since 1928" watched the convention from his wheelchair Wednesday night. He sported a straw hat with a wooden donkey named "Horace" taped to the top. A friend hand-carved it for him 50 years ago, he said.

Joe Blanton, a delegate from Scottsburg, Ore., found himself depicted in The New York Times this week, he said.

The retired public health worker easily attracted attention in an Uncle Sam hat and star-spangled vest that a friend made just for the convention. He wore it over a red, white and blue plaid shirt.

Blanton, who for years could not get elected to the presidential convention in his homestate of Michigan, is attending his second presidential convention. As well as noting differences in attire, he hit upon perhaps another political point of departure.

"It gets easier as you move West," he said. "They don't care who your grandfather is."