---

Hats really came in handy this summer, not only to keep the sun out of your eyes but to keep your head dry during the torrential downpours. What a season.

I just bought a new Panama hat at the Greek festival in Pawtucket. It seemed like the perfect headgear for sitting around munching stuffed grape leaves and sipping ouzo.

Don't some hats just fit the mood and scene?

My hat collection runs the gamut from berets to stetsons, but the hat described below has a special place in my heart.

There's nothing like a hat that, when you find some shade and can take it off for awhile, can double as a useful reading and learning device. We've made a lot of these hats over the years at special events, and even held classes to tutor children in the fine art of newspaper hat-making. Today is your lucky Sunday: You get the directions and the newspaper in one shot.

I can't wait to see you sporting your hat as you stroll downtown. Feel free to use the Sports section or any other pages you want.

What's good about this is that they all work.

So here's what you do:

1. Lay a four-page section of The Sun Chronicle on a flat surface with the fold at the top.2. Locate the center line and fold the top lefthand corner down to it.

3. Do the same thing with the top righthand corner.

4. Fold up the edge of the top sheet to the base of the triangle and crease it.

5. Now fold it up again to form a hat band, and turn the hat over.

6. Fold the right edge a half inch past the center line for an average head size. For a larger head size, go only a quarter inch or less. Fold the left side to the right edge in the same manner.

7. Fold the lower right and lefthand corners to the bottom of the hat band. 8. Fold the entire lower flap above the hat band.

9. Now fold the top of the flap down and tuck it into the hat band.

10. Fold the peak down to the bottom of the hat band and tuck it under the band.

11. Pick up the hat. Open it wide.

12. If you want a square hat, fold down the right and left ends of the hat that protrude and stick them in the hat band. There, you're square.13.

Party.

And remember, it only works with The Sun Chronicle.

See you next week.

ORESTE P. D'ARCONTE is publisher of The Sun Chronicle. Reach him at darconte@thesunchronicle.com or 508.236.0394.