On that hot summer day with a flower-scented breeze, there wasn't a tennis shoe or a flip-flop in sight. Just mothers, grandmothers, little granddaughters, and lots of dolls everywhere you looked.

The event was last year's annual Shawnee Town Garden Party. All wore their best frilly dresses and sandals, and, yes, many even wore hats. You might think you'd stepped back to 1920.

Standing out in the crowd are Jess Luther and two daughters, Genevieve and Lillian, wearing hats you couldn't buy today. They're from the collection of Jess' late grandmother, Myrtle Kepley, famous for her hand-crafted creations.

"We counted at least 40 hats in Granny's house and donated all but a few to the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C.," Jess said. "My older daughter, Lillian, loves tea parties and hats and wrist corsages."

Lillian picked a pale yellow organza bowler with a self-fabric flounce perched high on top.

"Granny's favorite hat-making tool was her hot-glue gun," Jess chuckled.

Younger Genevieve, a goalie on her soccer team, couldn't wait to join the girlie fun. She wore Granny Myrtle's simple satin cloche with a dramatic pearl-and-rhinestone broach at the temple.

Since Jess' mother lives in North Carolina and couldn't come, she brought Genevieve's godmother, Deborah Kroman, to share the special day.

Helen Cowan came with daughter Shelley Hale and granddaughters Alexis and Emma, from Lenexa.

"I'd make the tiniest brownies for tea parties with the girls," Cowan said. "We used a little tea set when they came to my house, so the Garden Party brought back nice memories."

Hale said, "It was wonderful being there as a family with my 82-year-old mother; my girls will never forget it. Alexis, our gymnast, will wear a dress about once a year and tries to get out of that! But Emma really loves dressing up, and she's always pulling her dolls around in her wagon."

Hale noted that the slow pace of the event was nice.

"There was old-fashioned music, and it was like a fairy land," she said.

The success of this event isn't an accident. The small staff at Shawnee Town, with enthusiastic volunteers, work for six months to bring it to life. Shannon Hsu, curator of collections for the museum, designs all the parts. Once the theme is decided, she coordinates the place cards and name tags and makes them all by hand. She fills tiny terracotta flower pots with plaster of paris for place card holders so they won't blow away in the Kansas wind. The party tent has a festive white cover with tulle curtains gathered back with cord.

Lemonade and cakes are served by volunteers who demonstrate how "ladies" behave at a formal event. The little girls love sharing the drama with their mothers and grandmothers. They are taught the importance of being polite, a social grace not often stressed today.

"They're so fascinated by the elegance," said Ellen Williams, there with her granddaughter Avery.

The little girls aren't the only ones who bring dolls. Volunteer Sharron Uhler said, "My mother gave my dolls to our housekeeper after I'd gone, and years later I realized I missed my favorite, so I found a replica."

She and volunteer Vivian Foreman posed for a picture in front of a glorious cluster of old-fashioned hollyhocks, where Uhler displayed her Betsy McCall doll.

After refreshments and a stroll through the gardens, small groups gather at activity stations for history and craft lessons. Beverly Carlson, Roeland Park resident, there with granddaughter Calyn Clark, made edible sugared pansies from organic blossoms.

Everyone delights in the Grand Procession of little girls in their modest summer frocks, hems swaying in the breeze as they carry their dolls to the gazebo for photographs. It's hard to tell where the girls stop and the hats, flowers, and dollies start, because they're all so beautiful they don't look real.
The fifth annual Shawnee Town Garden Party is right around the corner, on Saturday, June 25. The theme this year is butterflies. All the workers are busy grooming the grounds for the garden tour and planning the tea cakes, butterfly crafts, a petal parade, and a few other surprises.

So it's time for all you grandmas to gather your granddaughters. Reservations are required!

Shawnee Town Garden Party
Saturday, June 25
10:00 a.m. to noon
$18 per person (cost includes refreshments, garden tour, craft project, and doll parade)
Children must be at least 6 years old and accompanied by an adult.
11501 W. 57th St., Shawnee
Reservations are required; call 913-248-2360; www.shawneetown.org.