The first time that Patricia Calloway met Ethel Robertson five years ago, Robertson sang to her.

“Now y’all know I don’t sing,” Calloway said, just before performing Robertson’s trademark son.

“I’m a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout,” she said. “When I get all steamed up you’ll hear me shout. Just tip me over, and pour me out.

“That’s Ethel. She pours out her love, her continuing love, to God’s people,” she said.

Calloway was among the speakers at Saturday’s annual Mad Hat Tea at First Baptist Church, Whatley Street. The event is a gathering of women Robertson originally organized to celebrate her late mother, “Dear,” in 2007.

“We had to do something with her clothing and other things,’ Robertson recalled. “She had a lot of pretty hats.”

She convinced her church friends that, using Dear’s hats for those who do not wear hats, they would have a tea for women. The gathering was well received, and has continued.

But Saturday, the ladies but a new spin on the event, taking time to honor Robertson for her years of service to this event, and to others.

When Calloway finished, she asked the women present to blow Robertson a kiss.

“Honey, you’ve got a lot of sugar up in here,” she said. “I hope you like your tea sweet.”

Others on the program included Mission Circle president Minnie Shakespeare, Dorothy Stallworth, Dorothy Johnson, Emma Locke, Katherine Wilson, Hazel Wilson, Ruby Crittenden, Julia Brown, Mable Jenkins and Sharon Daniels.

Following refreshments, the hostesses called for a parade of hats and honored three winners – Nell Ward, Angie Cotton, and Ann Evans.