CHRISTMAS CRAFTERS

The Plains Woman's Club once again gathered to help youngsters have a better holiday by making Christmas stockings for them.

Five ladies from the Plains club met at the United Methodist Church in Plains Friday afternoon to work on the stockings for the Sanders County Coalition For Families (SCCFF), which will in turn fill them with goodies and give them to children of families in the SCCFF program. SCCFF is a nonprofit organization based in Thompson Falls that works with victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.

The women - Joy Nelson, Lores Porter, LeeAnn Hafner, Deb Cleveland, and Britta Allison - spent just over an hour at the church's social hall making the 19-inch long stockings, using a variety of patterns and colors. The club's goal was to have 25 Christmas stockings. Club members had already made some of them; they needed to make 15 on Friday.

"They have been amazing. Year after year they have supported this program by creating stockings for every single parent and all their children," said SCCFF's Executive Director Gayle Seratt. The stockings are part of SCCFF's Christmas Adopt-A-Family program, which the organization has done for some 25 years. Seratt said that SCCFF presently serves about 150 individuals. She pointed out that the families that receive these stockings are struggling because of domestic or sexual violence in their lives. Members at SCCFF will fill the stockings with donations of gifts from the communities and deliver them to the families. The Plains Woman's Club has participated by making the stockings for about 10 years.

"We're a public spirited group. We do things like this to make the community better for everybody," said Porter, who's been with the Woman's Club for more than 25 years. "That's what the Woman's Club is all about," she added. The General Federation of Women's Clubs is an international organization. The Plains Woman's Club, which presently has just over 30 members, was created in February of 1923. Debbi Kirschbaum is the current president of the local club. Each year, the club sponsors the Shakespeare in the Parks program and the members maintain the 137-year-old log schoolhouse, located on the corner of Railroad and Clayton streets. They also do a number of other community activities throughout the year.

Most of the women there had made stockings in previous years, but it was the first time for Allison, who was excited to participate. She has been a club member for two years. Allison and Cleveland added decorative appliqué to some of the more plain stockings. The women cut only the outlines Friday. A few of the women finished the stockings at home. Seratt said they plan to deliver the stockings in mid December. "They can feel the love we put into this for sure," said Porter.

"They put so much time and energy into them," said Seratt. In most cases, without the Christmas Adopt-A-Family program, the children would go without, according to Seratt, who added that the stockings round out this whole program. She said that the Christmas stockings the Plains Woman's Club makes are individualized, creative and beautiful. "It's a way the community and Woman's Club can support these families in need," she said.