Women find friendship, community service opportunities through Crochet Club

For 40 years, a local hobby group has been stitching together friendships and hand-crafted products.

Members of the Crochet Club of Middle Georgia make take on a range of projects throughout the year, making products for charities, hospitals, new mothers and senior citizens.

The club was started in Warner Robins in 1976 by Jessie Averyt, who had relocated from Alabama, members said.

“It’s an old established club,” said crochet club President Denise Bryant, a third-year member and Bonaire resident. “It’s the original crochet club in the Middle Georgia area. We do so many different projects, we are involved in so many different things in the community, and we have such a variety of women that come. I think it’s special.”

The club grew from about seven initial members to 150 at one point, but now keeps around 50 ladies on its roster. It started out at the Warner Robins recreation center, but its member have gathered at the Gold Cup Bowling Center for the past three or four years.

Business meetings are held at the bowling alley from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, but members can also drop in at the same time Mondays.

The club is open to the public and to all ages, member Andrea Seymour said. Bryant said participants range from their 30s to their 80s, with the majority being middle-aged. A few women have brought their grandchildren or children to the gatherings, and college students have attended on their summer breaks, Bryant and Seymour said.

“We’ve had a lot of new (members) come in,” said Joyce Farmer, a Warner Robins resident who’s been in the club about 17 years. “Some people, we may run into them at a store when they have yarn in their hands. Everybody has a story of how they got there.”

Some members are beginners; others have decades of experience. Bryant and Farmer have been at it for about 45 years, starting as teens. However, some members don’t crochet at all. Bryant said a couple of the ladies knit instead.

Seymour, who said she serves as the club’s Facebook moderator, photographer and project helper, has been a member for 10 years. She got involved in the club because her mother, Mildred Brock, was already in it. Brock has been a member for about 15 years.

“You can be a beginner. You could not know how to crochet, and we’ll help you. As long as you’re willing to learn or you can crochet, that’s what we’re looking for,” said Seymour, a Lizella resident. “We want people to come in and just enjoy what we do and help us.”

The Crochet Club is a nonprofit organization, and members pay dues of $12 per year, she said. They sell products at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry every fall, and the proceeds help them buy supplies. They work on several projects at a time, which gives members a variety of things that they can make, Bryant said. Products include butterflies for Heart of Georgia Hospice, a gift basket for the first baby born each year at Warner Robins’ hospital, blankets for new mothers at the Robins Air Force Base, and mobility bags that seniors can use to hold personal items.

The members “love to crochet, but you can only make so many projects for your family,” Bryant said. “We try to take it and spread it around and donate. That’s what it’s all about: the charities, the camaraderie, the gifts.”

Each year, the club makes “snuggle buddies” — small blankets with a Beanie Baby in a pocket – for about 50 children at Camp Wings, a bereavement camp by Heart of Georgia Hospice, and 150 lap robes for residents at area nursing homes and assisted living centers, Seymour said. Members also provide gifts for a boy and a girl each Christmas through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program.

“We have an amazing group of girls who sacrifice a lot of their time away from their families to do this sort of stuff. They get it done,” Seymour said. “We set our own needs aside. We’re not just friends, but we are a family, and that’s the one thing that’s special about (the club). No one is judging.”

Seymour said members work on projects and help each other with technique during their meetings, while also chatting and enjoying the company. The ladies keep in touch outside of their bowling alley sessions too, talking on the phone, going out to eat and shopping for materials together.

They pray for anyone who might be sick or going through tough times and collect money for those who experience a death in the family. Farmer said they also send birthday and get-well cards and bring food to members who are ill or stay with them until they can get back on their feet.

The Crochet Club plans special activities and events for holidays, like a gift swap and party at Golden Corral for Christmas, Seymour said. It also hosts an annual Achievement Day, where members can win awards for handmade items they’ve submitted.

To learn more about the club or to get involved, join The Crochet Club of Middle Georgia on Facebook.

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Women find friendship, community service opportunities through Crochet Club."