Sisters Share their Many Gifts Share Your Gifts
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By Susan Pelchat, KAPPAN Staff, CT Mu
ach of us has a special gift or talent and no matter how we may underplay it, the way we express it can distinctly set us apart from one another. In this article, members share their special gifts and how they share them with others to entertain, inspire, motivate or just let the cares of the world go away. “I make quilts, fabulous exciting cuddly love-stitched quilts,” touted Susan Potthoff, NH Beta. She just adores her craft. She makes quilts for members of her family for any occasion. Coming from a family of twelve children, Susan finds there is always someone ready for a quilt. Since retiring from her kindergarten position, she has made over sixty quilts. Susan grew up sewing with her mom and grandmother. She began quilting to decorate her own home, creating her own patterns and quilting on a regular machine. She finds her rewards in the joy each quilt brings and loves the photos people take with their quilts. “These stitches bind us all together,” she declares warmly. Annette Wauchop, VA Beta Beta, loves to share her gift with others. “My gift is card-making,” she says. “I enjoy making cards and sending or giving them to people to help brighten their day. I have made cards for essential workers, doctors, nurses, firemen, teachers, children in hospitals and patients in the hospital. I recently presented a learning session at our state convention to make cards for residents at Cardinal Village, a facility for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.” Annette loves to improve the day for people and make them smile. Suzi Bonifay, GA Alpha Iota, became interested in art as a child and pursued courses through college. “While my interests have ranged from drawing, painting, photography, woodworking, jewelry and other crafts, I am perhaps best known for ‘pen and inks’-- primarily of historic buildings,” she said. Suzi has sent pen and ink Christmas cards since the late 70s, some with digitally edited photographs and a few pictures in color. Recently, she colored note cards for her chapter to print as a scholarship fundraiser. She started a Member’s Show for her local Arts Council and has continued to display her art. She has conducted clay jewelry programs for her chapter, students and others. Suzi says she spent most of her youth outdoors but credits her parents with giving her books, art supplies and encouragement. When Suzi taught handicapped high 12
schoolers in Career Tech, she dabbled in woodworking, metals and photographic silk screens etched in glass. “It was as much an education for me as the students I taught. Creating art and photographing wildlife bring me joy and, hopefully, sharing it does the same for others.” Writing is a passion for Victoria Smith, CA Alpha. She cites that 82% of people want to write a book but only eighteen percent actually see it to fruition. Victoria is one of the latter. She is writing a children’s book. Having wanted to write for a long time, Victoria proclaims, “I’ve written about ten stories and will be publishing my first one soon.” This is her way to achieve fulfillment in retirement and to share her gift with others. “I have a hidden talent,” revealed Diana Vasicek, MN Alpha Rho. “I play piano.” She confessed that she only shares that talent with family and that many people don’t even know she plays. However, the talent she does share is her crafting skill. Diana has created centerpieces for scholarship teas and other events. She frequently sews items to be used as prizes or raffle items at meetings. She learned to sew at the age of seven and enjoyed passing it on to her own daughter. Now, with Pinterest, she has discovered unending ideas for making purses, gnomes, baby clothes, toys and masks. Diana is happy that she can keep busy, express her creativity and give gifts that are appreciated by others. English and Hebrew folk songs are a forte of Ruth Shushan, ON Upsilon. As a counselor at a children’s camp, she used to lead 350 campers in rousing songs, chants and cheers. Later, as a primary educator, she used her vocal talent, accompanied sometimes by her mountain dulcimer, to lead the class as they read together the lyrics of familiar songs like ‘You are my Sunshine.’ Now retired from her role as an early literacy teacher, she uses her trained skills to teach her granddaughters the thrill of reading and writing. Over the past 12 years, Ruth has enjoyed singing and playing banjo and dulcimer in harmony with her Celtic quartet. They have performed many ‘gigs’ for nursing and retirement homes. Preparing for the performances at members’ homes once a week all year is such a creative, satisfying and enjoyable process. “But,” Ruth contends, “the greatest reward of all is seeing the faces of those with whom we share our talent and skills.”
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