Take some English tea and combine it with a good cause. Add a thrift store outfit and throw in an elegant hat — and the end result is the Women of St. Hubert’s Old-fashioned English Tea and Fashion Show.

The women of St. Hubert are no strangers to tea parties. The hostess, Marilyn Harden, has held close to a dozen tea parties. Some of her counterparts have English roots, and they know all about the ins and outs of English tea parties.

The St. Hubert women’s group have just the formula to make for an entertaining event.

“We have all the bases covered to make it an enjoyable and fun time,” Harden said. “And still an elegant tea.”

On Saturday, April 29, the women are holding the event they are describing as “outrageously enjoyable” at Harden’s home in Freeland.

Tickets for the event are available in the office at St. Hubert, and will benefit the church’s charitable outreach fund.

The outreach fund is used to support a variety of causes throughout the year. It has supported activities and programs such as the food bank, pregnancy aid and the senior center, among others.

The outreach program helps the community in general, the women said.

The idea for the elegant English tea party came from a conversation Harden had with her friends.

“We were talking one day and we said, ‘We could have a fashion show with all the clothes we have from the thrift store,’” Harden said.

And she is already known for her tea parties.

“I’m the tea party lady.”

So the idea to combine a tea party with a fashion show was born.

“When Marilyn brought up the idea, I thought it was wonderful,’” said Joan M. Smith, one of the St. Hubert ladies.

Smith said the event suits the group well.

“I love to cook, I love the kitchen,” she said. “That’s how I give back to the church and my friends.”

Smith will prepare hors d’oeuvres for the event.

Englishwoman Sheila Bartlett is no stranger to tea parties, either.

“She’s our tea connoisseur,” Smith said.

Bartlett will be in charge of picking out and preparing the tea.

“And all of the china we are using is English Bone China. We aren’t using paper or plastic or anything like that,” Bartlett said.

Each of the women have a task they will carry out for the tea party to ensure an organized and well thought-out event.

Tea party servers will be dressed in black and white with a tie.

“They are young ladies who are giving their time to get some culture, as their mothers put it,” Smith said.

One very important part of attending a tea party is wearing a hat.

“From the very beginning, I’ve associated that with tea parties,” Harden said.

“People have got to wear a hat to my tea parties. If they don’t have a hat I would loan them a hat,” she said. “Because I have lots of hats.”

For the fashion show component of the party, three models from St. Hubert are making trips to the thrift stores and will be presenting their outfits.

Every one is encouraged to wear an outfit from the thrift store or a rummage sale to the event, along, of course, with their hat.

In between the thrift store fashion show, those who have worn their own thrift store or rummage sale outfits have the option to share what they have.

“Where they got it, why they got it, that kind of thing,” Harden said.

All of the St. Hubert women’s group enjoy the camaraderie of tea parties. They said the parties are a time to be ladies, to dress up and be elegant.

This event is particularly special, they said, because it’s for a good cause.