Photo buttons a hit with Guard, families

During Saturday’s sendoff ceremony for members of the Maine Army National Guard’s 152nd Maintenance Company, scores of Guard members and their families sported buttons on their lapels featuring photographs, some of them family shots and others of individual soldiers.

The buttons were made on the spot by Barbara Claudel, family support services coordinator for the Maine Guard.

Claudel said Saturday it takes about two minutes to make a single button using a digital camera, a printer and other equipment.

“It’s a way to keep the families together,” she said, adding that she continues to see buttons being worn on jackets and purses by loved ones of troops that have returned.

Claudel said she began making the buttons shortly after the first group of Maine soldiers was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom two years ago.

Because the photos used in making the button are taken with a digital camera, they can be downloaded to a computer and saved for anyone who wants to request additional buttons later.

“Families like them, and it’s a great way to show support,” she said.