Crafty newcomers help St. Robert parishioners crochet poppies
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The parishioners of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in St. Robert are used to integrating new people into their community.
This parish is located near a busy military base, Fort Leonard Wood, which brings many new people to the area.
The fort is home to basic training, senior-enlisted and officer training, and specialized schools for all branches of U.S. military.
It also trains foreign military students to facilitate America’s international military cooperation.
Some people are in the area for a few weeks, some for a few years.
To help them get acquainted, the parish in April 2024 began Connecting Threads — Connecting Lives, a group for connecting threads from embroidery to sewing to quilting.
The group, like the parish, is open to the public.
Its founders started off offering instruction and camaraderie in basic sewing-machine use, even providing sewing machines to some and sharing fabrics.
It was a good way for newcomers to integrate with long-term residents.
By July, the group was moving to basic crochet instruction by June Sablan and Christine Mitchell. That’s when the connections took an unexpected turn.
St. Robert Bellarmine parishioner and veterans advocate Gloria McBeth brought a community service project to the group.
Each year, Pulaski County has a large Veterans Day commemoration and parade.
The local Chamber of Commerce wanted residents to crochet 5-inch poppies out of red and black yarn to adorn the parade route.
This would require hundreds of poppies!
At the July meeting of Connecting Threads — Connecting Lives, people who had never held a crochet needle or yarn learned to make the poppies.
This brought many laughs (and some frustration), as it does often seem that one needs three or four hands to crochet!
Nevertheless, they persevered, and poppies were successfully crocheted.
Ladies continued to make poppies at home. By the deadline, over 400 poppies made by this group were delivered for the parade project.
Ms. Bentele is a member of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish.
