Originally published 10:28 a.m. Nov. 9.
For decades hat maker Arlene Zarate collected and made hats, some with ostrich feathers and ribbons, others with flowers and frill.
Months before her death she gave a talk about the origins of the collection at Nestor United Methodist Church about the hats and on Saturday the remainder of the collection will be sold to raise funds for church missions.
Nestor UMC will hold its Holiday Bazaar from 2-7 p.m. Saturday at 1120 Nestor Way, and dozens of hat collected over decades by Arlene Zarate will be for sale.
"What we're going to show is what is left from her hats that her grandchildren and children didn't choose to keep to remember her by," said her daughter Teresa Vaca who lives in Imperial Beach.
Zarate, a longtime resident of South Bay, passed away Sept. 15, 2013.
She was 91.
At her funeral, her children and grandchildren wore the hats in her memory.
Zarate was a bookkeeper and the Nestor UMC secretary, but the mother of eight also owned her own kiln and was a seamstress.
"She sewed my wedding dress and all five bridesmaids dresses as the mother of the bride," Vaca said.
The hats passion began when she served as the president of a local chapter of United Methodist women, her daughter said, where she supported missions to support homeless youth and to help women who were recently released in prison.
Zarate also served as a Girl Scout troop leader. Meetings convened in the basement at Imperial Beach United Methodist Church.
Her husband Florentino Zarate owned Tino's Barber Shop on Palm Avenue near the 16th Street intersection where a collection of first photos was on the wall.
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