MapleCreek ladies minister to Lodge resident

It was an unusual request for Cottages resident Elizbeth Druckrey, who has a clothing mending outreach to MapleCreek residents. "It came from The Lodge skilled nursing center," she said. "A man there, Mr. White, had his lower legs amputated some years ago because of diabetes, and the aids would tie the empty legs of his sweat pants together to keep it out of the way. But that made it hard for him to move around. So I was asked if I could shorten the pants legs for him."

So Elizabeth fixed one pair of sweatpants, and he liked her work so well that she was given eight more pairs to fix. Cutting off the legs and stitching up the ends of the shortened sweatpants, Elizabeth soon saw her cloth scraps box was overflowing. "Ethel Evert, who lives at The Terraces, helps me with the mending here. I told her that we had to do something with all these pants legs. She suggested that we make a patchwork quilt or throw out of them." So Elizabeth cut open the tubes of cloth and laid them flat on the floor. Ethel, 98, told her where to put which panels. Elizabeth double stitched them together so the whole thing would look like the double stitching in one of the pairs of pants, and then she ran a special cutting wheel tool around the edge to make holes. Ethel crocheted the edges together with multi-colored yarn. "I was surprised how quickly Ethel got it done," said Elizabeth. 

On Monday, June 6, 2011, Elizabeth drove Ethel from The Terraces to The Lodge next door to present their hand-crafted throw to the man whose pants legs scraps went into it. Frank "Tom" White was surprised by the story of how the ladies came to make it from the discarded ends of his pants legs, and he was very pleased with the thoughtfulness of the gift. He likes to spend time sitting outside in his wheelchair, so the throw will come in handy. He announced to Elizabeth he thought he had two more pairs of pants that needed shortening, and Elizabeth, with a chuckle, took them to work on. Tom, 73, was born in Standale, just west of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He graduated from Coopersville High School, and though he was diagnosed with diabetes at age six, he was a strong and hearty man who worked outdoors most of his life doing yard work and maintenance. Since the amputations in 2000 and 2001, he has come to appreciate whatever help he is given. He won't soon forget the kindness shown him by his fellow MapleCreek residents through their mending and sewing ministry.