A Wallaceburg family did their part recently to “warm-up” Wallaceburg.
Tiff Caughy said the idea started after her mother-in-law sent her a few photos of the ideas from Facebook and Pinterest.
“It was a picture of some trees with some scarves on it,” Caughy said. “She thought this would be a good idea with the girls, because I have three young girls. So I decided to make six or so and do it with my girls because they were interested.”
The idea then shifted over to a knitting group Caughy meets with at the Wallaceburg Library called ‘Chicks with Sticks.’ They gather every Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Caughy said she spoke with Sue Handsor at the library, who connected her with the folks at the Wallaceburg BIA.
“I got talking with them through email. We set it up and within two weeks I ended up getting some of the girls with Chicks with Sticks to donate I think it was 13 between hats, scarves and a headband and there was 24 items that I put in myself with my daughter. One of my daughters actually helped me make some scarves. So that took us to 37 items in total that we had put out.”
Caughy said her and her three daughters Brooke, 9, Jamie, 7, and Aly ,6, distributed the items along James Street during the BIA’s Holiday Open House downtown on Nov. 19.
“I didn’t know it was going to go over so well,” she said. “We went at like 3 p.m. in the afternoon, so by the time we got uptown, it was was about an hour putting stuff up. It was just myself and my three girls. I came home and ate dinner and went back up and there was barely anything left. There was maybe 7 items. The next day we went by on Friday and there was nothing left.”
Caughy said it was great to see people picking up the items.
“I saw one person take one… she was putting it around her neck across the road and she screamed out ‘thank you” and we acknowledged it and said your welcome from across the street,” she said. “Two people walked by and said it was a really good thing we were doing for the community and it was a really good idea. A nice gesture to put something back into the community like that.”
Caughy said it was a great lesson to teach her children.
“It was amazing because not only did I do something for the community, but I got to show my children,” she said. “They were involved and they enjoyed it. They thought it was cool to give back. Otherwise they wouldn’t have known. I don’t think they realized what it was going to be like. They were just like ‘oh we are going make some hats and scarves and put them up and yeah some people make take it.’ But to actually see how it all evolved, I think that was kinda cool. You know, my daughter actually made the scarves and they are not on the bench anymore. I think we saw two kids wearing them during the event.”
They are planning on doing it again next year, she said.
“If anyone has any small balls of yarn that they don’t care about any more or don’t know what to do with. We can attach them and make it into a bigger scarf by putting all kinds of yarn together and making a cool pattern. It doesn’t matter what kind it is. We will take it and put it all together,” she said.
“We only had 37 items and that was within 2 weeks. We were planning on making it as big as it was but the girls from Chicks with Sticks have already said that they would help out and do it. We thought that would be awesome because there would be more items available for those in need. We plan on doing it again, especially because it was so successful.”
Caughy said people can drop off the yarn at the library anytime, and say it is for ‘Chicks with Sticks’ for the Operation Warm-up Wallaceburg.
She can also be contacted by e-mail at tgeroux@gmail.com.
Here are some submitted photos:
I am not at all surprised by the generosity of Tiffany. She is an amazing mom and always looks for ways to give back. She does an awesome job of teaching her girls and the people around her the importance of the giving instead of receiving! Great job Caughy Girls!
Thanks so much Judy.