Gold Tree Co-Op in Manatee sports exclusive club

MANATEE -- They call themselves the Black Hats.

They are members of an exclusive club -- all men who live at the Gold Tree Co-Op mobile home park, 5707 45th St. E., Bradenton, near Lockwood Ridge Road.

Wearing any style of black hat they prefer, the men meet for lunch around noon the second Tuesday of each month and their mission is simply to have fun.

"We get together and have a good time," said Al Hardie, 80, club founder and chief

organizer.

The club sparked into existence 16 years ago when Hardie decided to have some fun with the leader of the Gold Tree Red Hats, a woman called the Queen Mum.

"I made this up as a I went along," said Hardie, whose wife, Eleanor, is one of 34 Gold Tree Red Hats. "I told her there was going to be a new club in the park called the Black Hats and the leader was going to be called the King Father."

When the Black Hat story spread through the park and generated not just laughter, but real interest, Hardie decided to make it happen. Sixteen years later, the Black Hats are going strong. Membership has grown to 28 men.

The Black Hats meet for lunch at the same time as the Red Hats but at a different restaurant.

"There are no dues," Hardie said. "I post a notice every month about where we are going for lunch. If they can drive they put a check on their name. If not, we find a ride for them."

Eleanor Hardie said the wives get a kick of the men's response to their club.

"We think it's great," Eleanor Hardie said. "The guys have a good time. "It keeps them all involved."

The Black Hats and Red Hats sometimes get together in the summer when most in the mobile home park are up north.

"We don't go to the same restaurant twice in a year," Hardie said.

The Black Hats have pride in their group, even though it was formed on the wings of imagination.

"I think the Black Hats are fabulous," said Carmela Bailey, Gold Tree's community manager. "It's awesome to see. They just enjoy it."

Gold Tree is a resident-owned park comprised of 295 homes, Bailey said. It became a co-op in 1999.

"We are a very active community," Al Hardie said. "A lot of people play shuffleboard and they are usually always through by 11:30 a.m. and that gives them a half hour to get to the restaurant,"

While most of the Black Hats are husbands of Red Hats, any man who lives in Gold Tree is eligible to join the club, Hardie said.

Any Gold Tree resident interested in joining the Black Hats can contact Bailey at 941-756-1875.

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 11:28 PM with the headline "Gold Tree Co-Op in Manatee sports exclusive club ."