(Hey, dolphins can be cougars too! Contra Costa Times)
Red Hats join celebration as dolphin Terry turns 50
By Jessica A. York / Times-Herald
Posted: 08/19/2010 01:02:52 AM PDT
Updated: 08/19/2010 07:51:23 AM PDT
Billie Friese, Queen Mother of the Royal Monarchs of Concord, grips a dorsal fin for a ride with Terry the dolphin during the dolphin's 50th birthday party Wednesday at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom's Terry the Dolphin, at 50, became the first animal inducted into the Red Hat Society, an international social organization based in Fullerton for women older than 50.
Terry was honored as "Queen of the Sea" on Wednesday by the society's chief executive officer, Debra Granich, during a birthday party in the animal's honor.
"She embraces the attitude of the Red Hat Society," Granich said as she offered Terry an honorary red and purple hat, the society's signature accessory. "This is a milestone for us, as well."
Granich said before the ceremony that the society recognizes that women over 50 can still embrace the fun in life and let "people know we're not done yet." Terry, Granich said, was described by her trainers as having a similar disposition.
The 500-pound Atlantic bottlenose dolphin has been in captivity for more than 30 years. All of that has been with the park, since its start in Redwood City and later move to Vallejo, Terry's trainers told a small gathering of about 16 local Red Hat chapter members.
Four society members from the organization's Concord Royal Monarchs chapter donned wet suits and red bathing caps to join Terry for a swim during Wednesday's party and induction ceremony. The women said they are known for doing "crazy things" like dancing on chairs in restaurants and riding a skating rink Zamboni, and would never have known each other, despite living close to each other, without Red Hat Society membership.
Lorretta Whitehurst, one a member who swam with the dolphin, remarked that her swift ride across the pool with Terry happened too fast.
"I'd do it again in a red-hot minute," Whitehurst said.
Terry, who was also inducted as an honorary member of the Concord chapter, "doesn't have to come to meetings," the women joked.
Terry is the oldest of the park's 14 Atlantic bottlenoses, including two calves born this past spring. She is among the oldest of her kind in captivity worldwide, park officials said.
For more information on swimming with the dolphins, visit the park's website at www.sixflags.com/ discoverykingdom. For more information on the Red Hat Society, visit www.redhatsociety.com.
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