They were beautiful pieces all laid out on the table in white, red, and blue wool. Frankly, 26 scarves have never held as much attention and admiration as they did at North Ridge Lodge on Thursday.
A gathering of volunteers, all residents of the seniors housing facility, assembled to take one last look at their handiwork just before they were bagged and donated to representatives with the local organizing committee for the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games.
Kathy Manchak was beside herself with joy at the sight. The director of events and hospitality for the games wants each scarf to serve as a unique memento, a warm reminder to all of Canada’s athletes of the fine time they spent in our fair city.
“It is a wonderful experience,” she exclaimed, expressing her gratitude to the crowd. “How could this be anything but terrific? Look at what these wonderful ladies have done!”
It’s a good thing that Manchak has Terry Green on her side. Green’s son, Larry, is on the alpine ski team and they are both raring for the end of next month to come. Once she heard of the idea, she knew that a homemade scarf for each athlete would serve as the perfect keepsake and memory of their experience in St. Albert.
“I just imagined Larry walking into the opening ceremonies wearing a scarf, and I thought it was fabulous.”
With that image in mind, she took posters to various places around the city to help with the advertising. She and Manchak both know there are so many knitters in and around St. Albert, just waiting for a worthwhile project to get their hands and needles into.
The goal is to have 2,500 scarves. The current tally stands at 362, leaving 2,138 scarves to go. There are 51 days left before the games start on Tuesday, Feb. 28 but the goal is to have all of the scarves by Wednesday, Feb. 1. That only leaves 24 days for citizen knitters to make it happen.
To help in that effort, North Ridge Lodge issued a friendly challenge to all other seniors’ lodges and facilities to meet or beat its 26 scarves. Program director Marie Bourdages said this donation represented just the first stage of the lodge’s work.
“We were overflowing,” she explained, adding that some of the residents are still working on new ones too, so the ongoing tally will likely rise as time goes on.
For more information on the games or the Scarf Project, please call 780-458-4564 or visit www.stalbert2012.ca.
