ST

Newsletter

February 2000 - April 2000
Greetings from the Editor

Helping a Blind Child See
Written by Margaret Cawood

Every now and then in this life, the chance comes along to do something for someone you've never met - someone who is not nearly as fortunate as you - something that is important to you and to this unknown person. It is especially fulfilling if that someone is a small child.

I don't know how other woodcarvers feel, but I feel very fortunate in being able to pursue this hobby. I am grateful for the free time I have that enables me to chip and carve at will. I am grateful that we have the means to travel to carving functions around the country and take classes from top notch carvers. And finally, I am grateful to my Creator for having given me the small amount of talent I have - I am not and never will be a world-famous carver, but in the main, I am able to carve a reasonable facsimile of whatever it is I want to carve. All that having been said, I'll get to the reason for the pleasure Toby and Elaine Craft and I enjoyed on March 20, 2000.

Sylvia Clark, a paraprofessional certified in literary Braille and employed by the McAllen, Texas, Public School System, saw a newspaper write up about the meeting of our local carving club, The Rio Grande Valley Woodcarvers of Texas. She works with Luis Roblero, a six year-old first grader in one of the McAllen elementary schools. Luis is blind and Sylvia's job is to help him learn whatever skills he needs to be part of Miss Olivarez's first grade class. He writes his lessons in Braille, then prints them out for the teacher to read. He also types some of his lessons. Additionally, Clark helps him learn the skills he needs to be as independent as possible.

Because he is so young, Luis must, of course, learn which animals fly, which swim, and which walk about on land. And because of his blindness, Luis must be taught all of these things-he doesn't pick up information the way the rest of us did, just by looking around. His parents purchase animal models, when they can find them, to help him learn what each animal "looks" like. Unfortunately, not all animal models are readily or affordably available.

Hence the reason for Mrs. Clark's interest in the woodcarving club. She came to one of our meetings and talked to Toby Craft. Could the carvers carve some models for Luis? In the blink of an eye, Toby answered in the affirmative. In the next blink of an eye, Toby was making the rounds in the club, asking some of us to carve a certain animal and explaining to us why. Well, of course I'd carve an animal. Then common sense kicked in and I hesitantly asked, "Which animal do you want me to carve?"

"A beaver."

"A beaver. Well, OK, I've never carved a beaver, but I'll give it a shot. Why do they want a beaver?"

The reason for the animals requested were very specific, there was usually a single feature about each that Luis could not imagine and wanted to see for himself - and that was the terminology Luis used. Although he was feeling everything, he called it looking at things.

The beaver - what do the big front teeth look like?
A fox - what does the big bushy tail look like?
A bird-how do a bird's wings look when it's flying?
A chicken - what do a chicken's feet and bill look like?
A turkey - what does a big, fanned out tail look like?
A giraffe - just what does that long neck look like?
A squirrel - what do the big teeth and big, bushy tail look like?
And one non-animal model - Toby made a good-sized sled so Luis could see what the children up north ride on over snow. Luis has never seen, or felt, snow, but children in stories ride sleds, so he wondered just what that would look like. The model was about 18 inches long-a very snazzy looking sled, I might add.

Five of the models were completed for our 20 March visit to Luis' school-the chicken, carved by Elaine Craft; an eastern Bluebird, carved by Toby Craft; the sled, made by Toby; a fox, carved by Bonnie Berkihiser; and the beaver, carved by me. There will be three other carvings donated when completed. They are: a turkey, carved by Raleigh Draper; a giraffe, carved by Greg Trapp, and a squirrel, carved by Elaine Craft.

I must add I got the beaver pattern from an older copy of Chip Chats. I was so proud of myself in that when the pattern appeared in the magazine, I had written the date of the magazine on my beaver file folder. It worked perfectly. For once, being half way organized saved me hours of looking through many years worth of the magazine.

Elaine, Toby, and I were walked to Luis' class by Mrs. Clark and Luis, and while the class looked on, silently and attentively, one boy, Joel Gonzales, and one girl , Brigette Zamarron, from the class helped Luis look at the new animals. We took all the photos we wanted and were satisfied and happy with the job that had been done on the carvings. Luis was a bit overwhelmed by so many new things and his teacher said it takes him quite a while to learn to recognize the different animals by feel.

But now he knows what a bird's wings look when the bird is flying. And that's pretty important, isn't it?

As a matter of interest, Luis takes piano and gymnastics lessons and is learning to read Braille music.

He does class assignments on Braille 'n Speak, a small computer that will translate to print and print out, or it can emboss the document in Braille.

Noah’s Ark

Members of the Rio Grande Valley Woodcarvers Club carved and donated a Noah’s Ark to the Al-Amin Shriners Temple. The Ark will be displayed the Shriner’s Childrens’ Hospital in Houston, Texas.

President of the Rio Grande Valley Carvers - Elaine Craft, and her husband Toby presented the Ark in Houston on January 11, 2000.

A picture and a write up was in Chip Chats Al-Amin. Pictured were Shriners Brad Bradley and Ed Handshaw, Elaine Craft, President of the Rio Grande Valley Carvers, and Toby Craft.

Toby Craft carved the Ark and 16 Rio Grande Valley carvers donated the carved animals: Elaine Craft, Eldred Scholes, David Bullwinkle, Margaret Cawood, Jack Cawood, Harold Baggerly , Lee Berry , Fred McMillen, David von Doehren, John Imlah, Carmen Jackson, Ron Laudenslager, Harry Liebold, Harry Pringnitz, Dorothy Chappas, S. Gary Roberts. Thank You For a Job Well done.

What a Big Success - Our first Rally was an experience. We were very fortunate having so many wonderful instructors coming down and giving classes. All the students who participated and helped to make it a fun time for everyone. We are now working on our next rally and have lined up some of the top carvers in the country to give classes. Gina’s Catering will be there for our daily lunch. Joe Montamayor will be serving our final barbecue on Sunday. We are very fortunate in having the Music Makers entertain us.

We need persons to manage the registration desk, night watchman, ticket sellers for our daily raffle, help on Sunday Jan 21 to set up classrooms, and help setting up dinning tables Sunday AM Jan 28. Please Help - if you can Contact Elaine Craft

The Rally On The Rio 2001 information will be mailed out in August to all who attended last year and Rio Grande Valley Woodcarvers Club members.

If You would like to be put on the mailing list email Craft@freedom.usa.com or MaxVee@aol.com.

Club Members

Feb 5th - The Pioneer Days in the Edinburg Museum - Club members carving were Margaret Cawood Toby Craft, Fernando Gutierrez, Frank Beller, Maxine Beller, Don Carlson, Charles Hinez.

Feb 27 and 28 - C. K. Koelle’s Two Banger Museum - Club members carving and displayed carvings were Elaine Craft, Toby Craft, Raliegh Drapper, Gordon Hubbard, Clyde Carter ,David Maiden. Fernando Gutierrez, Pablo Gutierrez.

March 4 and 5 - Hidalgo Border Fest - Club members carving and displaying carvings were Maxine Blanchard, Max, Blanchard, Marilyn Heine, Toby Craft, Elaine Craft.

Christmas Ornaments

100 plus Christmas ornament blanks were purchased and members signed out for them. They will be carved and painted by the members. These ornaments will then be used to decorate a Christmas Tree which will be donated to the Shrine Club. The tree will be raffled off by the Shriners to help with the cost of transporting children to hospitals as they seek medical care. Many have already been returned. The deadline for returning your ornament is Oct 15th, 2000. Thank You for all your help in making a beautiful tree.

Newsletter Information

If You have information for our Newsletter contact Elaine Craft, RR1 Box 2640, Mission TX. 78572. Email Craft@freedom.usa.com.