MONROE — Each year around the holidays, the hands of Ann Hunter, her friend Cathy Crubaugh and many other local women start stitching together flourishes of color that add a little warmth to the hearts of needy local families.
The Woman’s Club members and others — including some from Behring Senior Center — knit washcloths to include in the scores of Holiday Drive packages the club distributes every year. And this year they are knitting plenty — the cotton-knit squares have several uses, namely personal hygiene and washing up. It’s a household nicety, that can put a smile on faces and wipe them clean.
“We put them in the food boxes, so it adds a personal touch,” said Hunter, whose mother taught her to knit; and who spent a half century or more knitting cloths every year for the annual effort. Hunter said she is heartened to be able to keep her mother’s knitting legacy going in Monroe, adding that her grandmother also helped her learn to knit.
The pair, now retired, worked together at Colony Brands, and both share a love of knitting.
Between them, Hunter and Crubaugh estimate they have produced 300 or more of the 400 or so pieces that would be created for the 2025 season.
They source their yarn from just about anywhere — some is donated, but plenty purchased just about anywhere a good deal could be had on cotton yarn.
“I think I’ve knitted since I think I was 7 years old,” said Crubaugh, who credits 4H with getting her into hand crafts like knitting.
But it’s not her first time knitting items of comfort to others. She likens the work she is now doing for the Women’s Club project to a previous time when she made prayer shawls for fellow church parishioners.
It is a human connection; she added and a bit of a spiritual one to make something by hand for someone else.
“When you are making them, you can’t help but think about who this is going to and to pray for their health,” said Crubaugh.
Considered the biggest Woman’s Club chapter in Wisconsin at 100-plus members, the annual Christmas stocking event is a major part of its annual philanthropy work; and planning for it happens nearly year-round. There are lists to maintain, labels to be printed, gifts to gather — seemingly everyone from local students to seniors has a role in the supply chain for the gift boxes.
There are no official totals for this year, but in 2024 260 families were served, with about 30 new families added to the program. Those families included more than 500 children.
The women say many more will be helped for 2025, a year in which experts agree food prices are causing soaring demand for any assistance available. And for volunteers like Crubaugh and Hunter, helping others and their club’s effort is a bonus to being able to enjoy a favorite way to pass the time.
“If I don’t have anything else to do, I just pick up these and work on them,” said Hunter.
Knitting, said Crubaugh: “It makes me feel at peace.”
