MOUNT VERNON — There are two things you can count on when hanging around a cowboy: horses and cowboy hats.
Most of these iconic hats can and often are purchased at tack shops or other western wear stores. A few may be passed from generation to generation.
And then there are the ones like Claude Robertson sports.
“There is a story behind this hat,” Robertson said as he removed it and carefully examined the head covering.
A trustee at the Knox County Horse Park, Robertson explained how he and the hat met some 10 years and 1,000 miles ago.
“When Hurricane Katrina hit, I went down to help out in any way I could,” Robertson said. “We were driving through Nederland, Texas, and there was a little shop that had been devastated. It had a bunch of supplies out front, and most of the building was gone.”
Since the store seemed deserted, he kept driving.
“Then one day, since we were working close by, I drove by and saw a bunch of people around the store, so I stopped,” he said.
Robertson struck up a conversation with the owners.
“I asked the lady who owned the feed store if I could look around and see if there was anything left that I could use,” he said.
After gaining permission to look through the remnants of the storm-ravaged space, Robertson came across a straw hat.
“I came out with this,” he said, holding the hat up in the sunlight. “It was all full of insulation because the wind had blown insulation everywhere.
“It was my size, so I asked her what she wanted for the hat. She looked at it and said, ‘You can have it.’”
Understanding the quality of the headwear, Robertson was surprised at the gift. The seemingly insignificant became a symbol of hope and shared humanity.
After all, sometimes it’s not the grand gestures but the small ones—a hat offered freely, a stranger lending a hand.
“I got some cleaning supplies, cleaned it up, and stopped by the store and showed it to the woman who had given me the hat,” Robertson said.
“‘That’s not the same hat,’ she said. I assured her it was.”
Two decades later, Robertson has protection from the sun and a memory of his efforts to help America recover from one of the worst natural disasters ever to strike her shores.