Ann
Ipock
Humorist,
author, speaker
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Georgetown
Times
FROU: Females Rule Our Universe (But Don’t Tell the Men)
By Ann Ipock July 14, 2005
By now the cat (or should I say, the FROU?) is out of the bag; and as you read this column, the time will have already passed where several of us FROU friends participated in the 38th annual Fourth of July parade in Pawleys Island, S.C., which just so happens to be the oldest Seaside Resort in America—(for anyone who reads this, and isn’t “from around here”).
The parade happens to be THE event of the year! Folks plan their vacations years in advance, renting seaside cottages in anticipation of the festivity, either riding on a float or watching the parade from the sidelines. Anyone can enter and the more the merrier, though there is a cut-off at some point before the big day. “Floats” consist of pick-up trucks, boats on trailers, flatbed trucks, unicyclists and anything else with wheels. Some floats have elaborate themes; others keep it simpler and smaller. It’s a real amalgamation of people on the floats: Children ride along with their parents; college friends gather from other parts of the state, notably Columbia, Camden, Greenville and Spartanburg; families and friends who rent or own cottages; plus locals thrown in here and there. Trophies are awarded to the winners in several categories. Some folks really go “all out.” I know, because we did—the FROU’s, that is.
Let me tell you about FROU, which stands for Females Rule Our Universe—(But don’t tell the men). We are a mixture of wild and crazy women who, as the song goes, “Just wanna have fun.” In our group of ten on that day, we had a book store owner, an editor, an administrative assistant, a publisher, a director of volunteers, two students, a retired businesswoman, a photography studio owner and me. We were as diverse as the South itself: blondes, brunettes and redheads; career women and those being educated for upcoming careers; and one retiree. But we all have one thing in common: We embody the very qualities of the South that define our women: Charming, graceful, genteel, warm, mannered—and on top of that, we love holidays and celebrations! (Plus, we love make-up, jewelry, hair care and darling shoes!)
For our float, we displayed pink FROU signs and banners. One read, “Who are the FROU’s?” and we listed several occupations: doctors, artists, engineers, hairstylists, lawyers, teachers, preachers, etc. Another banner said, “What do the FROU’s do?” and it read, “Shop, dance, play, get mani's and pedi's, pray, read, volunteer, raise families, cook, garden, create, eat out.” Of course, we also displayed the American flag because we are a patriotic bunch! We love America and we want the best for her—and after all, this holiday was the celebration of our country’s Independence Day. Other banners read, “God bless America. God bless you. God bless FROU.”
We FROU’s were dressed in signature hot PINK clothes, wigs and hats, over-done jewelry, and white gloves. Some of us wore FROU-FROU skirts—oh, we do love femininity! We carried parasols, which we decorated in our own personal way; the objective being who could fix up the most outlandish parasol. (It turned out we needed them in the sweltering heat!) We sang along with talented female artists like Aretha Franklin, Shania Twain, Patti LaBelle; and even threw in one by Roy Orbison. After all, we do love woman-kind AND man-kind; and Roy was a great singer. We gave out candy compliments of Piggly Wiggly. We also threw out bags of what I call “FROU candy,” that being boiled peanuts, our Southern specialty. Russell, my hubby, was our FROU driver; but hard as I tried, I could not get him to wear pink! Mike Sanders was gracious enough to lend us his Dodge Ram pick ‘em-up truck.
The parade is over now and we FROU’s are settled back into our regular, normal lives. I’m kind of sad that it’s over—but that’s also a positive thing. Now we have a full year to brainstorm, plan and create. Most of all, we want to say thank you to the absolutely huge crowd that spurred us on—giving us smiles, kisses and even candy Kisses! You were the best. We’re as proud as you are to be Americans. Thank you, as well, to the judges and the media who supported us. And to our special FROU in absentia, Anne, we wish to say thanks for the splendid picnic afterwards. We missed you on the float, but the “Anne replica” was perfect and a real conversation piece. We appreciate your fine party in your exquisite new island home afterwards. And to the FROU’s—we’ll be meeting soon: That includes Bess, Carolyn, Delores, Jenna, Jess, Lynn, Margo, Terry, Willa and Anne.
And finally, a five-star salute to Jason Lesley of the Georgetown Times for taking our FROU photo and running it in full color on Section 1B on Wednesday, July 6, 2005. How could you not feel patriotic and blessed after this perfectly splendid holiday, set in one of the most beautiful spots in the great United States of America?