Orono knitter hopes to take craft to school

When Janet Cloutier of Orono read about the Needle Arts Mentoring Program in this column recently, she got in touch with the Helping Hands Foundation, which sponsors the program, to find out how to set up a program at Orono’s Asa Adams School.

“I learned the needle arts from my grandmother,” Cloutier said. “I don’t think that happens much today.” Cloutier taught her son, a fourth-grader at Asa Adams School, to knit when he was 7 years old. She said she knits to relax and relieve stress.

Cloutier said she decided to initiate the program because she was looking for a way to contribute to the life of the school.

“There’s a woodworking mentoring program that appeals to boys [at the school],” Cloutier said. “I was looking for something that might appeal to girls, but boys are welcome, too.”

Cloutier is hoping for 10 mentors to volunteer. “Mentors don’t need to be highly skilled,” she said. “They need to know the basics and be willing to interact with a child.” A mentor works one-on-one with a child. Volunteer mentors are required to fill out a background check form and to attend a two-hour orientation, tentatively planned for Wednesday, Sept. 29.

School officals, Cloutier said, were receptive to the idea of the needlework mentoring program.

The Needle Arts Mentoring Program will be offered to fourth- and fifth-graders, Cloutier said.

The needlework mentoring program usually includes knitting, crocheting and needlepoint, but the Asa Adams School program will focus only on knitting. Yarn is provided by the Helping Hands Foundation, but donations of wood or plastic knitting needles in sizes 7, 8 and 9 are needed, Cloutier said.

The mentoring program is set for 11 a.m. to noon beginning Wednesday, Oct. 6. It will run through Nov. 24. Another eight-week session is planned for the spring term.

The Helping Hands Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing bonds between children and adults by the teaching and learning of the needle arts. The organization recruits mentors either to participate in established programs or volunteers to start up new programs.

Mentors need only to have a willingness to work with children and basic knitting skills.

Knitters interested in volunteering to be a mentor in the Asa Adams School program, or those who wish to donate wood or plastic knitting needles in sizes 7, 8 and 9, may call Cloutier at 866-0094, or e-mail jdfootin@aol.com.

To learn more about the Helping Hands Foundation, visit www.needleartsmentoring.org, call (503) 325-4749, or write Helping Hands Foundation Inc., PO Box 813, Astoria, OR 97103.

Snippets

. There’s still time to purchase raffle tickets for a quilt made by the Hancock County Quilters Guild. Proceeds will benefit Faith in Action Community Connection in Ellsworth. The lucky winner’s name will be drawn Sept. 25. Tickets are $1 or 6 for $5, and may be obtained by calling Jo Cooper at 664-6016, or e-mail fiaconnect@prexar.com.

Faith in Action Community Connection offers free services to Hancock County residents, whose needs are not being met. The focus is on the elderly and the disabled.

. Knitters and crocheters who find it difficult to get out to stores to buy yarn may be interested to know that Herrschners has a new Yarn Shoppe catalog. The catalog carries wool, cotton, synthetics and blends of brand name yarn. Visit www.yarnsale.com or call, (800) 441-0838 to obtain a catalog.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes suggestions. Call 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.