News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Barbara Richman, Clarissa Caccavano and Jan Sims display a quilt that will be given to a returning service member.
A dedicated group of 20 Sisters quilters has been turning their passion for the craft and their compassion for wounded soldiers into a project that honors those who have sacrificed dearly in two current conflicts.
The Hero Quilters of Sisters have made some 250 quilts to be donated to returning service members who have suffered serious wounds in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"They're the worst of the worst," said quilter Jan Sims. "Brain injury; spinal injury; amputee."
The comfort of a quilt made by hand and heart out of fabric with patriotic themes is profoundly meaningful to the recipients. They often contact the group with their thanks.
"It makes us cry," said Clarissa Caccavano.
The group receives donations to help defray the cost (average $400 per quilt) of their work. A quilt shop recently donated patriotic-themed fabric.
"One of our biggest costs is shipping," said Caccavano.
The group is interested in help from anybody who wants to contribute, whether or not they are an experienced quilter.
"They don't have to be an expert quilter," Caccavano said. "We still have people who don't know how to sew."
It's a very committed group, which has been working weekly for three years. "We remember Vietnam and how they came home so scorned by our country," Sims said. "We don't want that to happen again."
For more information on Hero Quilters of Sisters, contact Barbara Richman at
549-1420.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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