The Red Hat Ladies from Brundidge strayed a bit from their traditional colors of red and purple and drove away from their October meeting with yellow dots on the rear window of their cars.

The Red Hatters enjoyed a “learning luncheon” which included lunch at Old Enzor Lane and a presentation of the Yellow Dot Program by Detective Michael O’Hara of the Troy Police Department.

Freida Spikes, the “queen mother” of the group said she had heard about the Yellow Dot program and thought that the Red Hat Ladies would benefit from participating in it and, to a one, they did.

The Red Hat Ladies had their photographs taken and each took home a packet that contains the necessary information first responders need and a Yellow Dot card. They also selected the right Yellow Dot decal for their automobiles.

O’Hara told the Red Hat Ladies that the Yellow Dot Program was created to assist citizens during automobile accidents when they might not be able to communicate for themselves.

“Once an individual has a photo taken, completed the necessary information forms that include, name, address, emergency contact number and medical history and affixed the Yellow Dot to the rear window of their cars, the final step is to place the completed information sheet in the Yellow Dot folder and put it in the glove box,” he said.

O’Hara said the Yellow Dot Program is the first of its kind in Alabama and has the support of law enforcement agencies across the state.

“If a person is involved in an accident and cannot speak for himself or herself and a first responders sees the Yellow Dot, they are trained to know that valuable information is in the glove box,” O’Hara said. “They can identify the individual by the photograph, know who to notify and have medical information that could be very beneficial. The first hour after an accident is often critical to the person’s care. The Yellow Dot gives a person a better advantage during that Golden Hour.”

Spikes said the Red Hat Ladies enjoy visiting new places and learning new things.

“We hope that none of us are ever in a Yellow Dot kind of situation but, if we are, it could make a real difference in what happens during that first hour,” she said.

The Red Hat Ladies of Brundidge travel around the area and sometimes venture beyond.

“We like tea rooms but there aren’t many of them around,” Spike said. “So, we look for good places to eat and interesting places to visit. And, we always like to do a little shopping wherever we go.”

The Red Hat Ladies participate in a Farm-City tour each fall and have learned more about farming in Alabama than most people know.

“We participate in parades in Brundidge and have a lot of fun doing that,” Spikes said.

According to their creed, the Red Hat Ladies “…shall sit down on the pavement when they are tired, go out in their slippers in the rain, pick the flowers from other people’s gardens and learn to spit.”

And, to that, the Red Hatters from Brundidge have now laughingly added “put a Yellow Dot on my rear (window).”

To sign up for the Yellow Dot program, visit the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, 120 Church Street, Troy; the Troy Police Department, 300 Elm Street; Troy Fire Department, 200 South George Wallace Drive; Troy University Police Department, Hamil Hall #113 or the Brundidge Police Department, 115 North Main Street, Brundidge