In a small nook in the Smiley Building basement, you'll find The Flying Hatter, a modiste who designs custom hats. The Flying Hatter recently started a new initiative called Hats for the C Word, a program for cancer patients to design their own custom hats free of charge. You are watching the "Local News Network," brought to you by Durango Gelato Coffee & Tea, and Crystal Mart. I'm Sadie Smith. Val Russell began her career as a trapeze artist. She designed costumes for herself and other circus performers, and over time, her hobby of making hats turned into a second profession.

I started designing more and more costumes for other younger acrobatic artists, and I really became well known for my hats. So people would either ask to rent hats that I had performed in before, or they would ask me to make a hat for one of their performances.

With her friends' encouragement, Russell turned her hat-making hobby into a business and opened The Flying Hatter during the pandemic. Then, in February, 2024, Russell's world changed when she was diagnosed with bladder cancer. Feeling isolated and alone, she sought a community for others undergoing cancer treatment, and found help from the cancer support community of Southwest Colorado. The experience inspired her to help others, so Russell applied for and received a Lodgers' Tax Arts and Culture Grant to fund Hats for the C Word.

The losing the hair piece was such a kind of hard moment of the chemotherapy and radiation to go through for a lot of the patients I met, and I thought I could really help these people and give them a bright spot in their treatment by like helping them get into a hat that they felt comfortable in.

Russell wants to bring comfort and confidence to those who are battling cancer.

I understand how lonely and isolating it can be. Lots of times people lose their jobs and the social circle gets so small for you while you're going through treatment. I've done a lot of crying with people, and the making of the hat is just really community, I've built community and a great distraction while you're going through a really unpleasant part of your life.

Each custom hat starts with choosing the shape and color, what Russell calls the canvas, which is then followed by a fitting and then personalizing with trim.

The trim is where the client or the cancer patient can really express themself. So for me, it's like the heart. The juicy part of making a hat with someone is the collaboration of the trim.

Russell intends to help as many cancer patients as she can with the Hats for the C Word grant.

I see this Lodger Grant money as seed money. I still want to keep helping this population and keep providing community and making hats for people going through the cancer treatment process. Last little piece, I would like to thank the city of Durango and the Lodgers' Tax Arts and Culture Program, and all the people that make that happen. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

For additional details about The Flying Hatter and Hats for the C Word, visit The Flying Hatter website. For more information about this and other stories, visit durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the "Local News Network." I'm Sadie Smith.