By Denise Coffey
June 3, 2019

Hats weren’t the only things on display at the annual Sassy Chapeau celebration, on May 24.

The signature fundraiser for the Northeast Connecticut Women and Girls Fund focuses on hats as a nod to the many hats women wear in their lives. But it’s also a chance for glitter and glamour, a chance to highlight area women and girls for their contributions to the community.

Such was the case at the Mansion at Bald Hill when first responders from northeastern Connecticut modeled the wondrous hats from Salmagundi, Boston.

From profile fascinators to wide brimmed sun hats, feather-light cloches to sinamay torques, the hats were a show all their own.

But the show gave special credit to the women modeling them: nurses, EMTs, firefighters, and police women.

Salmagundi co-owners Andria Rapagnola and Jessen Fitzpatrick helped select the hats for the women to wear. “We tried to fit them with their personalities,” Rapagnola said.

The event raised $10,000 for the NCWGF. Since 2013, the fund has awarded $58,110 in grants to area nonprofits in Brooklyn, Canterbury, Eastford, Hampton, Killingly, Plainfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Sterling, Thompson, and Woodstock. Those grants helped fund scholarships, programs, and services to ensure women and girls have more choices and opportunities in their communities.

The NCWGF has an endowment of $88,613. It is managed by the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut. For more information, go to www.cfect.org.