THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 29, 1996 TAG: 9603270195
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: By PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
EACH NEWBORN WHO LEAVES Maryview Medical Center snuggles into a warm handknit cap, and each pediatric patient who hugs a handcrafted, stuffed toy has been touched by the caring creativity of the handcraft group of the Maryview Auxiliary.
At the weekly meeting of the longstanding volunteer group, lively chatter and outbursts of laughter rise above darting crochet hooks and needlepoint needles as the group works on an array of baby caps, afghans, soft stuffed animals and dozens of bazaar items.
``We talk more than we work,'' Evelyn Perryman says as she swiftly crochets a delicate snow flake for the Christmas bazaar.
Regardless of how much they visit, the group of about 60 members still turns out something like 600 baby caps a year as well as scores of stuffed toys and small giveaways for various hospital departments and enough handcrafted merchandise to stock two fund-raising bazaars.
Started in 1979 as an auxiliary project, the group includes many of the earliest members, who are still active. Members range in age from early 40s to early 90s. Some of the older members, when they find that arthritis or other aging aches and pains limit their manual dexterity, refuse to quit. They simply forgo the more complex crafts and put their efforts into less-demanding skills, like crafting pompons for the baby caps.
By far most of the members are women, but at least three men contribute their time and talents to the group.
Although most members live in Portsmouth or Western Branch, a few come from Norfolk and Virginia Beach. One member who now lives in Richmond continues to knit baby caps and sends several dozen back to the group every few months.
Annie Ficenec, at 89 one of the group's oldest members both in age and service, finds getting to the weekly meetings sometimes difficult because of transportation.
``I love to keep my hands going, so I work at home, too,'' she says, adding that she can crochet a baby cap in four hours.
Frances Shine is a charter member who remembers when the group had only seven or eight members and they met in their homes.
``I was brought up in the country,'' Chesterfield, outside of Richmond, ``where the neighbors always did for each other. We were brought up to do stuff for others without calling it volunteering.''
Helen Belamarich, a retired nurse, grew up with crafts and was delighted to find a group to join. Twelve years ago, as a volunteer driver for the auxiliary, she was asked to take an elderly woman to the hospital. She assumed it was for a medical appointment.
``I was surprised when she asked me to come in with her. But when I found out it was a craft group she was coming to, I was happy to stay - and have been here since.
``It is rare to find a group like this where everyone gets along without any bickering.''
Ila Bailey was widowed years ago and decided to join the group in the mid-1980s.
``My kids were fussing at me because they were tired of seeing me with a dust rag and a vacuum cleaner in my hand.'' With the handcraft group, Bailey creates beaded ornaments and other bazaar items.
Across the table, Lillian Avery is busy working on refrigerator magnets, plastic canvas needlepointed in the shape of a hand with a string tied around one finger. The magnets are given to mammography patients as a reminder to schedule their next mammograms.
``My favorite craft? None of them,'' Avery says, laughing as she admits she is not fond of handwork. ``I just put up with all of this so I can come to see all my friends.''
One of the group's newest and youngest members, Debbie Brown, 45, lives in Norfolk. She joined just a month ago after specifically learning how to knit so she could volunteer to make baby caps.
``My son went off to college, and you have to fill the time,'' she says. ``Now my husband comes home and asks me, `` `How is the hat factory today?' '' MEMO: The handcraft group's spring bazaar will showcase their handcrafted
items and baked goods, including handmade Easter candy. All proceeds
will benefit the charitable work of the Maryview Auxiliary. The bazaar
will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday in conference room A on the
second floor of Maryview Medical Center.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Henria ``Sam'' Krepps, left, and Erma ``Pete'' Brauer, members of
the Maryview Hospital Auxiliary, work on a handmade duster for the
craft bazaar. The group has been making items for the patients since
1979.
by CNB