Guests will enjoy a lunch sponsored by the Fresh Market and prepared by Jessica Jones, the River City Food Co-op Manager. Guests will also see a preview of spring fashions from Wildflower Boutique and take home a piece of art created by Patchwork artists.

New this year is a silent auction with a variety of wonderful items contributed  for guests to bid on.

Purchase your ticket before February 20 for the discounted rate of $40 per person or $300 for a table of eight. On February 20, all ticket prices go up to $50 per person.

Proceeds from the event will be used to support all of the programming that Patchwork provides. It supports things like children in the Arts & Smarts program dreaming about their future lives and using these dreams to inspire wearable sculptures built on sunglasses (Get it? Their futures are so bright…).

The sculptures started with an entire display stand of sunglasses that Jane found in a gas station for $2, idea sketches by each child, a crazy assortment of found objects, and plenty of hot glue.

I’ve also been enjoying the kids’ commentary on a recent survey asking the kids whether they enjoy making things from clay. Answers range from “Yes!!!!!! Yes!!!!” to “It is a joy” and “Yes I do very very very much.” The survey also showed that the group improved its understanding of clay construction techniques.

Activities like these plus other things like our food pantry and neighborhood hospitality are available to those we serve at no cost to those individuals thanks to generous donations from people like you. Thanks!

On Monday, restoration work started on the tower, which is pretty exciting. By then end of the work, the tower will have new windows, new roofing, repaired trim work, and will be set to stand as a neighborhood landmark for many more years. We’re grateful for the special contributions that have made the work possible.

Our food pantry has been very busy this week. All totaled, we served 66 individuals from 24 households. We’ve also provided 11 showers this week. Most of the people taking showers need towels and toiletries such as soap and shampoo, which we always have on hand. This week we used the last of a special donation of razors, mouthwash, and toothbrushes. The men who received these items were particularly grateful. Our guests have also been grateful to find some warm coats, scarves, and gloves in our informal “clothing bank”. There have also been numerous cups of coffee enjoyed while people waited for their food orders to be put together or spent other time in the building.

Meanwhile the children have been busy after school. One project this week was paper sculptures. The constructions were colorful, imaginative, and then…someone made one into a hat. Suddenly everyone was modeling super-cool paper sculpture hats! The kids are also preparing for a Japanese tea ceremony by making cups using textured slabs of clay.

Lots of excitement!

There are many other projects to work on around Patchwork, not the least of which is the planning for our Soup, Salad, and Style fund raising luncheon on February 23 and our Pancake Extravaganza on April 21.

A couple highlights from the last few weeks:

It’s nice to get Christmas cards from friends. Patchwork receives many. This year one was from a food pantry recipient who thanked us “from the bottom of my heart and my hungry stomach” and offered blessings for all we do.

Also, Bill Hemminger came this week to plant bulbs with the children in the after school program. The pots are full of bulbs tucked warm and safe into the earth and will hopefully provide us with some color when we need it most this winter. The kids had mixed opinions about how much fun it was to work with big handfuls of dirt!

The halls have been decked, the children have been gifted, and the pace has slowed as we get ready for Christmas.

December 8 marked the annual Christmas party for the children in Arts & Smarts. As usual, there was a wonderful feast, carols with friends from Aldersgate UMC, and card making. And there was the usual opportunity for children “shop” in our Christmas Store for gifts for their families. They had earned tickets for shopping through good attendance.

The children were encouraged to think not of themselves but of their families and friends as they did their shopping. We were fortunate to have a great team of parents and volunteers who helped the children choose gifts in the Christmas Store and wrap the gifts they’d chosen.

As in previous years, the Christmas Store was organized by our teen volunteers as part of their leadership training activities. The weekend before the Store, the teens went on a fabulous shopping trip to stock the Christmas Store. We are grateful for a Youth Resources Make a Difference grant that funded their purchases.

Other festivities around Patchwork have included the Worship Community’s annual trip to old strip mine land to collect Christmas trees for Patchwork and our homes. The trees we find would make Charlie Brown happy. The one for Patchwork is particularly large (almost touching the ceiling in our main room) and beautiful. As big as it is, it was a challenge to get lights all the way to the top!

The Community did our annual Hanging of the Greens during worship on December 11 and now the building looks wonderfully Christmasey with lights and greens scattered everywhere.

Patchwork will be open mornings only during the week before Christmas (our food pantry will be open during that time) and then our offices will be completely closed during the week between Christmas and New Year. We’ll open back up on January 2 with a flurry of activity including the return of the children in Arts & Smarts.

Special this year was Lillie, a high schooler participating in Advanced Art & Company. This summer when she volunteered in Patchwork’s summer activities, the bright drawings on her shoes caught everyone’s eyes. It turns out that she designs them herself and has sold some pairs to her friends at school. Lisa Dayvolt, staff member and Art & Company project leader, thought they would be a great product to offer to a larger audience. Lisa worked out a system for Lillie to take orders and sell custom shoes through the artWorks gallery in the front room of the River City Food Co-op. This gives her an safe way to interact with customers while she experiments in building a business. If you’re looking for a unique gift for friends or family, check out her table in the gallery and put in an order!

There is plenty of other art in the artWorks gallery now, making it a good place to look for handmade gifts. There are even a few of Art & Company’s nativity sets in case you missed them at the Holiday Sale.

On Wednesday, November 16 we had the honor of having Evansville’s Mayor Weinzapfel join us for our annual Dia de los Muertos parade. The kids were all so incredibly excited that someone important wanted to visit them here at Patchwork. One girl said, “I’m so excited to meet the mayor. I’m going to brag about it tomorrow at school!” They were really interested to know what it is like to be someone so important, and Mayor Weinzapfel was kind enough to answer some of their questions like: “Do you live in a mansion?” and “What kind of car do you drive?”. He told them about his own children and where they go to school, and he had a long conversation with a group of boys as he marched around the block with them during the parade. And to think that only Monday the kids were saying, “I didn’t even know that Evansville had a mayor.” It was a great civics lesson.

The parade is the culmination of our annual study of Mexican culture. Dia de los Muertos is a celebration that takes place on November 2, All Souls Day, and celebrates the memory of those who have died. Our celebration is usually later in the month, due to busy schedules and the Holiday Sale. In preparation for the event, the kids have been making skeletons (a common Dia de los Muertos motif), learning about Mexican culture and food from special guests, and creating small memory shrines to commemorate those whom they love.

Tom Loesch and the Blackford’s Grove Neighborhood Association had invited the mayor to the parade to have him participate in a ribbon cutting to celebrate the new, smooth, weed-free sidewalks that the city has installed on our block. With a ribbon cutting to start it, giant skeletons in shopping carts, individual skeleton puppets made from Bridge Club playing cards, noisemakers, streamers, and the Mayor, it was our best Dia de low Muertos parade ever!

What’s been happening?

A couple weekends ago a group of Patchwork Community and River City Food Co-op members got together to turn several bushels of apples into apple butter. It’s the real deal, cooked in a big copper kettle over a fire in our garden. A group of volunteers from the University of Evansville made all the apple cooking go even better. The apple butter will be on sale this weekend at Patchwork’s Holiday Art Sale.

The next weekend, Calvin and Nelia Kimbrough (two of Patchwork’s founders) came for a visit. The highlight was a Sunday evening worship full of old friends who’d returned for the night including Jesse Graber, Ruth Harder, and Deborah McBride. There was good music and news from Calvin and Nelia’s work at the Open Door Community in Atlanta.

We’ve also completed the re-carpeting of the Meetinghouse. Wow! The new look is great! Remember the holes worn through the carpet in the main office? Remember all the stains? Remember the edges that curled up underfoot? WELL! No more! We also took the opportunity to rearrange our office space and have received many compliments on the new look. It’s a great gift to offer the people we serve an attractive and welcoming space. Again, many thanks to the members of the Women’s Fund of Vanderburgh County for providing the funding that made it possible.

Meanwhile, the Arts & Smarts program has been hosting special weekend activities for the Teen Volunteers (grades 9-12) and Junior Helpers (grades 6-8). This year the program staff are working hard to develop these participants’ leadership skills and to present the participants with special opportunities to practice these skills. The teens are working on a video project, they’re planning and presenting substance abuse prevention lessons for the younger participants, they’re getting some advanced time to work in the ceramics studio, and they’re building group cohesion through fun activities together.

We’re also gearing up for the Holiday Art Sale this weekend. Don’t forget the Preview Party is this Friday, November 11 from 5 pm-7pm and the regular Sale continues on Saturday, November 12 from 9 am–2 pm. The kids in Art & Company have been meeting with Scott Adams from Old National Bank to understand more about marketing and how income and expenses come together to make a profit (or not!). They’re also working to create unique nativity sets to sell. It will be a great event with lots of wonderful handmade art for you to give to friends and family this Christmas.

Preview Party on Friday, November 11 from 5 pm – 7pm

Saturday Sale on Saturday, November 12 from 9 am – 2 pm

Guests at the Preview Party will get a first peek at the art and fine crafts offered at our Holiday Art Sale. They’ll also enjoy holiday drinks and snacks, listen to live music, and purchase unique handmade gifts from local artists. Admission to the Preview Party is $10. Food will be provided by the River City Food Co-op.

The Holiday Art Sale continues on Saturday, November 12 from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Admission on Saturday is free.

All items offered for sale will be hand-made, original art and fine crafts including paintings, drawings, collages, ceramics, fiber arts, jewelry, and sculpture.
30% of all sales will be given to support Patchwork Central’s programming.

Artists participating this year include:

• The Children of Patchwork’s Art & Company (nativity sets)
• Billy Hedel (paintings and drawings)
• Cynthia Jones (jewelry)
• Cynthia Watson (paintings)
• Deborah Wagner (art dolls)
• Dharmi Indian socks and shawls
• Emily Gartner & Ray Vigurs (handbags and wearables from album covers)
• Jane Case Vickers (jewelry)
• Julie Lovins (paintings)
• Joe Smith (pottery)
• Joyse Rivers (handmade cards)
• Keith Boyd (paintings)
• Lisa Dayvolt (fused glass jewelry and art)
• Lisa Wilson, Carolyn Outlaw, Mamie Vanleer (fiber art)
• Mandy Gerth (mixed media)
• Nancy Lockyear (fiber art)
• Richard Clouse (turned wood)
• Sara Rhodes (jewelry)
• Vonia Brown and Deltha Roberts (fiber art)

So, what happens in a day? Take yesterday for example:

• The food pantry was open.
• A man took a shower. He’s one of our regulars.
• Some people didn’t get a full food order but instead picked out some bread and some of the fresh pears that we made available.
• Gospel music quietly blessed the building as a man sang to himself as he looked through our free items to see if there was something he could use.
• The Community Outreach Coordinator at Culver Early Childhood Center called. He was trying to help a woman and her children who had just moved from California. They have a place to live and nothing more. When is our food pantry open? Where are soup kitchens she might visit? Are there other resources he could suggest to her that we know about?
• A man came to pick up his mother’s bike that Mike had been working on. Mike had decided it was beyond repair and fixed another one for her.
• A woman who spoke little English came into the main office. Shawn called Cami who teaches Spanish classes here and also was the translator for the Bell Tower Clinic when it was operating at Patchwork. Cami knew the woman and was able to let Shawn know that the woman needed to get food from the food pantry.
• A man did a variety of odd jobs around the building and joked with the office staff. His volunteer hours here allow him to remain in his Evansville Housing Authority apartment. He’s a unique individual and wasn’t willing to volunteer anywhere until Mike convinced him to come help out here.
• In the afternoon, a group of volunteers from an art class at Ivy Tech helped prepare the main room for our annual Back to Patchwork Party while Kristen popped popcorn and Tales & Scales set up their equipment.
• Kids began to arrive for tutoring and for the party. Tales & Scales’ music got louder and LOUDER! By snack time we had 50 kids and adults ready for popcorn and cherry juice. The group recited the Creed Official, a child said grace, someone was chosen to “Be Matt” and excuse tables to get their snacks. Afterward, Tales & Scales performed. When they asked, “Do you want to play some games with us?” The room erupted in a, “Yes!” Games ensued.
• The building was briefly quiet. Then a group of Patchwork Worship Community Members assembled for the weekly Thursday Night meal together. Last night we were a small group but enjoyed good conversation.

Our after school programming began September 6 with special leadership training activities for our teen volunteers. We’ve noticed that all of our programming goes more smoothly when we have a committed group of teens to help out, so the few leadership training weeks we’re doing now will pay off year round. One thing that’s special about the teens at Patchwork is that many of them attended our programming as younger children, so they have a good understanding of the children in our programs now. The teens in training now are a mix of youth in grades 6-8 who are just beginning to take on leadership roles within the Arts & Smarts Program and youth in grades 9-12 who take on much more active leadership roles. They all think they’re here to help us with the younger children, which is true, but we hope that while they’re here we can keep them involved and engaged in a community that will help them make healthy choices for their futures.

Our tutoring program will begin on September 19. Like last year, we need tutors! If you know someone who might like to help even one afternoon each week, please call Patchwork’s office and talk to Dixie, our Tutoring Coordinator. Tutoring sessions take place Monday-Thursday and begin as early as 2:45, but you can come later if that’s what works with your schedule. The job is especially rewarding if you are able to make a commitment to be there every week for the same child.

Then on September 22 we’ll have our annual Back to Patchwork Party to celebrate the start of all Patchwork’s after school activities for all children in grades 2 and up. We’ll have Tales & Scales here as special guests to help us celebrate.

Meanwhile, we’re continuing with improvements around the building. Joe Wells has been doing more painting, we’re slowly getting new carpet, the metal roof is freshly painted, and just today the city started to install new sidewalks on our side of the block.