A hat extravaganza and dinner, to benefit Soapstone Baptist Church, will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 19 at the Phillis Wheatley Community Center, located at 335 Greenacre Road in Greenville. “My husband is really talented, and he’s putting on a hat and fashion show just before Easter,” Mable Owens Clarke told The Pickens County Chronicle. She said that hat designer Sam Brown will be flying in from Boston, Massachusetts. “He’s going to let us use the hats without charging us anything, he said, ‘As long as you’re going to feed me some good ol’ southern food.’

“When my parents built the church back in the ‘60’s, they used cement blocks,” Clarke said. “We have to turn the heat on Saturday so it would be warm for service on Sunday. We heat by propane, and we’re trying to raise money to help defray the propane. We’re getting ready to do something different. We’re putting on a hat and fashion extravaganza. We’re also serving dinner, and I’m going to be the chef doing that. The tickets are going to include a dinner. The tickets are $60 for the fashion show and a great dinner by Chef Mable Owens Clarke.”

Tickets can be purchased at the church, or by calling 864-607-3493, or by emailing [email protected].

The event will be held at the Phillis Wheatley Center since Soapstone Church is in a remote area, she said. “They offered to let us use their facility to do the hat and fashion show. All the funds are going to go to Soapstone Church. We’re doing everything, trying to keep the doors from closing.”