THE RED HAT SOCIETY MAKES TERRY, THE DOLPHIN, AN HONORARY MEMBER ON HER 50^TH BIRTHDAY

August 18, 2010 (Vallejo, CA) The marine mammal trainers at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom always placed Terry, the park’s oldest Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, in a special place in their hearts.  At 50 and one of the oldest dolphins residing in a North American facility, Terry has surpassed the commonly held life-span of this species both in captivity and in the wild. On Wednesday, August 18, members of the ubiquitous Red Hat Society®, the international society dedicated to reshaping the way women 50 and beyond are viewed in today’s culture, will honor Terry’s milestone birthday this year by having her don a distinctive red hat, and making her an honorary member.

“Terry is truly special,” said Kim Lara, marine mammal manager. “She is the epitome of what we imagine an animal her age is like – she has a gentle, loving nature but yet she’s playful and very funny – and of course – like any stylish lady, she carries around a ‘handbag’ of sorts, a hula hoop looped around one of her fins.”

Terry has been a resident of the park since it was originally located in Redwood City.  She was one of the hundreds of animals that moved to Vallejo when the park re-opened in 1985 aboard the “traveling ark.”  While the average dolphin life span is up to 25 years; there are some rare individuals, such as Terry, that have managed to live beyond expectations.  As a senior animal, most people wouldn’t notice if Terry was older, except she has lost the majority of her teeth, which hasn’t impaired her appetite or ability to eat since she swallows fish whole.  While she has slowed down, her mind is quite active and she still fits in her favorite activities, such as sitting next to people, sleeping with her hoop, and swimming with her “purse.” As the most reliable of all of the dolphins during interactions with guests, she is still agile and friendly. She is still adept at performing most of her behaviors, including her wave, a kiss and hug, an air spin (albeit barely out of the water) and squirt gun – where she spits at the person facing her.

When she is made an honorary member, Terry will join an established organization that has chapters in over 26 countries. In addition, she is now officially a part of the “movement” that recently led to the society donating their original red hat to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. According to the Red Hat Society, the organization was originally

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Terry’s 50^th Birthday

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designed as a way for women 50 and over to escape the “pressures and demands placed on their everyday lives” and has since matured, growing deeper than fun and friendship and now includes women of all ages. Women over age 50 are called Red Hatters and those under 50 are called Pink Hatters.

Joining the celebration at the park will be the CEO, Debra Granich, from the organization’s hatquarters in Fullerton, CA.  Red Hat Society members from throughout the Bay Area will be on hand to witness the formal ceremony, as Terry will be crowned with one of their distinctive red hats when she is made an honorary member.  As a member, Terry joins a network of women from throughout the world that stress the positive aspects of life, the importance of friendship and sisterhood, the value of play and a determination to find the good in life everywhere possible.

“We’re delighted to be a part of Terry’s milestone celebration,” said Debra Granich, CEO of the Red Hat Society. “While Terry is not the traditional member we are accustomed to, she is, in fact, one of the most unique. We welcome her with our red gloved hands!”

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has 14 Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, including two calves born this past spring.  Guests can meet Terry and a few of the dolphins at the Dolphin Encounter exhibit as part of the daily dolphin feeding opportunities or even swim with Terry during the popular Dolphin Discovery in-water swim program.  For more information, visit the park’s web site at www.sixflags.com/discoverykingdom. For more information on the Red Hat Society, visit www.redhatsociety.com. 

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About Six Flags: Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, is a publicly-traded corporation headquartered in Dallas, Texas and is the world’s largest regional theme park company with 19 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Red Hat Society is delighted to participate in a study, beginning this October, with The Pennsylvania  State University , a prestigious academic institution.   You must sign up right away if you are a Supporting Red Hat Society Member who wants to participate in the study. Please read and apply to the link listed below if you are interested in participating, but be sure you can dedicate the necessary time to this very important project.  We were originally part of an earlier study by Penn State in 2004. That study found that Red Hat Society does a great deal of good for women including helping them make friends, enjoy life and have fun, and providing a venue for dealing with multiple stressors. Now Penn State would like to extend the initial study to look more specifically at how Red Hat Society contributes to women’s health and well-being.  This is very exciting!  We’ll have scientific proof to share with the world what we already know,  Red Hatters Matter!   Yeah for us!

A Message From Penn State:

** WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE PART OF ADVANCING SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE ON WOMEN’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING IN LATER LIFE? **

 

** WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES AS A RED HAT SOCIETY MEMBER? **

 

If so, please consider being a participant in our research study.

 

Hi, my name is Careen Yarnal and I am a faculty member at The Pennsylvania State University.  My research team is conducting a study to investigate the ways the Red Hat Society might contribute to the health and well-being of its members. For the study to be a success, WE NEED YOU!  Please consider donating your time to be a part of this groundbreaking study.

 

If you are interested in helping us you should be:

 

1. A Red Hat supporting member or a Red Hat supporting Queen age 50 or over
2. A supporting member during the entire study
3. Have access to a computer and the Internet
4. Be willing to make a full commitment to filling out all the on-line questions for the duration of the study

 

There are two possible levels of participation. You can select to participate at Level 1 only. 

Or you can select to make a bigger time commitment by participating at BOTH Level 1 AND Level 2.

 

We can only accommodate 1000 members at Level 1 and 1000 members at Level 2.

If more members want to participate than we can accommodate, we will select participants to get as global and diverse representation of membership as possible.

 

Participants in Level 1 of this study will be willing to:

 

• Complete ONE 30-minute survey online
• The total time commitment for Level 1 is about 35 minutes.

 

Participants in Level 2 of this study, in addition to completing Level 1, will be willing to:

 

• Check email at least once daily for updates and additional information for the entire year of the study
• Complete a questionnaire online once every month for the entire year of the study (25 minutes every month)
• Complete an end-of-study questionnaire online (30 minutes)
• The total time commitment for Level 2 is ONLY about 5 1/2 HOURS over the entire YEAR.

 

To submit as a possible Level 1 and/or Level 2 participant, please click on the following URL:

 

www.surveymonkey.com/s/rhssignup

 

The URL will be open until September 17^th, 2010. We will notify you by email if you have been selected for the study or not by September 27^th, 2010. The study will begin on October 4^th, 2010.

 

After the study is completed, to thank you for participation, we will email you general results within six months of completion of the Level 2 study.  We also plan to share general results with the scientific community and with the media.

YOU are what will make this study a success. We are truly appreciative of this wonderful opportunity.