Glad hatter retains zest for life
By Stacy Wiedmaier
La Quinta Sun
Cris Romero can easily be picked out of a crowd.
The 74-year-old wears decorated hats for all occasions and said she has too many to count.
Born in Thermal, Romero has lived in the Coachella Valley her entire life and said she tries to stay busy volunteering with local organizations throughout the Coachella Valley.
“I have more fun than a barrel of monkeys,” she said last week while wearing a green pig-tailed wig and jungle hat with hanging monkeys. “I have hats for each season and then regular, everyday ones. Hats create the right atmosphere for my balloons.”
Romero attended clown school in Riverside five years ago because she thought it sounded like fun. And it was, although twisting the colorful balloon creations was difficult at first, she said.
She now makes multiple designs, including the popular sword and poodle. At clown school, the first item she tried to learn to do was a beetle.
“I was not so good back then,” Romero said. “I gave up on the beetle because that idea was too hard — turtles, too. If kids ever ask for a turtle I say they're extinct.”
Romero shares her balloon talents with children at local libraries, the La Quinta Boys & Girls Club, Indio's fourth of July event, and at schools and Palm Desert's golf cart parade. She joked how her six brothers and three sisters “went into normal careers like a mechanic,” instead of clowning.
She retired from the J.C. Penney corporation's Indio store after 40 years.
She had worked in nearly every department, and laughs now about beginning as a cashier right out of high school when there were no cash registers.
Romero was later assigned to the alterations department after someone quit unexpectedly. She said she had no idea what to do and pant legs would sometimes turn out different lengths.
The 40 years she spent in retail “just flew by,” she said. She remained single and devoted her life to her career and to local children.
Romero is a member of the Coachella, Indio, La Quinta, Indian Wells, Palm Desert and Cathedral City chambers of commerce. She also volunteers with the La Quinta Chamber of Commerce and La Quinta Senior Center, and has been a Cub Scout leader for 20 years.
“She's dedicated to children and this valley as a whole,” said Wendy Winder of La Quinta, the La Quinta Chamber's Ambassador program coordinator. “She always makes her herself available to help.”
If you get Reckless you'll Krash and see Dotz." 