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Move over, Red Hat Ladies
By VIRGINIA GRANTIER, Bismarck Tribune

Not long ago, a Wal-Mart store's clerk became quite puzzled. For some weird reason, there seemed to be a run on men's bib overalls at her store in Mesa, Ariz.

It wasn't because there was a sudden surge in new farmers getting into the field.

The answer the clerk got: All of the buyers were BOBS.

They were retirees from all fields -- college professors, truck drivers, bankers -- who had to invest in new duds now that they were members of the men's answer to the Red Hat Ladies Society -- the brand-new Bib Overalls Boys Society, BOBS for short.

And it wasn't only overalls they needed. The uniform also calls for a red handkerchief and straw hat. Pocketwatches for that breast pocket are optional.

"Wal-Mart had it all," Stan Rohde said.

Who started all this? Stan's the Man.

Rohde, 66, a former Mandan resident and St. Alexius Medical Center supervisor -- now living the good life on Lake Tschida and parts southwest in Mesa -- wanted more of the good life. He wanted what his wife, Betty Gerhardt, 65, had when she socialized with her red-hat buddies.

"We felt left out," he said. "We had to do something."

Because life's short. He and a friend, Barrie Stocks, who helped dream up this idea, were mulling over recent family members' deaths and 9-11 and how life is uncertain and you should get as much fun out of it as you can before it's gone.

That was in March. The fun's been getting more fun, apparently, ever since.

Rohde's Mesa chapter started with 12 members, grew to 19, and would have had many more. But the membership door for this chapter was shut because it's too hard to have more than that troop into a restaurant and easily get served and seated for the monthly luncheon.

Soon after forming, they let the world know of their existence by sneaking into the back of a Mesa parade, right behind the red-hat ladies contingent, waving signs that said things like, "red-hats are nice but BOBS are better."

They drove a golf cart decorated to look like a tractor. And then they beat out the red-hats for the $15 prize for uniqueness.

And there's more. More BOBS.

"It's spreading throughout the country," Rohde said, and laughed.

Well, the spreading hasn't quite trickled from sea to shining sea. But who knows? Not only has a Mesa BOB gone home for summer and started one in his home state of Wisconsin, but Rohde plans to start another at Lake Tschida and get friends in Bismarck to start one here.

The BOBS tend to draw a crowd.

Rohde said at a past breakfast gathering the group was approached by about 35 to 40 people who were curious about who they were. When they found out, they wanted to get their relatives involved.

The Mesa BOBS, a mix of liberals and conservatives ranging in age from 60s to 70s, can also be found sometimes, after golf, getting together for cocktails to discuss and solve the world's problems. But they also do more important work.

A BOBS member has to be age 50 or older and he has to do one charitable thing a year: Either help an elderly gentleman who needs some sort of assistance, or help a young boy in need -- maybe buy that Christmas bike his family can't afford.

Gerhardt said the BOBS "look darling in their little outfits."

However, she still thinks her husband looks better in a tux.

The Red Hat Ladies Society is based on a poem. The BOBS have a poem in progress, being written by Rohde's daughter.

The Red Hats poem, "Warning," by Jenny Joseph, talks about wearing purple with a red hat and embarking on a rollicking life with no concern of others' opinions.

The poet couldn't be reached about BOBS' poem to be, but get ready for an overall look at life.

Rohde said BOBS is even more fun than he thought it would be and he said the best moment so far was after the group's first outing when he noticed all of the members were smiling.

"You have to understand. This is a group with problems," Rohde said.

One member has severe diabetes, and another is dealing with problems after a stroke. But during BOBS gatherings, problems seem to be put aside. Even the canes.

The stroke-survivor friend, who never walks without his cane, was having so much fun at one outing, he forgot where he put the cane. He had left his crutch behind and was walking around without it.

He's bobbing back.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at vgrantier@ndonline.com.)