Peggy Heikkinen and her grandson, Wyatt Bryant, display Wyatt’s special blanket that the Oxford Hills Middle School after-school sewing class repaired.

Sewing class does community service

PARIS – Sewing class is more than learning to use a sewing machine. It’s learning to help others.

Throughout the year, 12 students at Oxford Hills Middle School met with Charlene Ring once a week to learn basic sewing skills. The sewing class was one of many after-school activities offered under a grant awarded to the Child Health Center by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

But this year they learned more than how to sew. They learned how to give back to the community.

Many have a special blanket that they like to cuddle up with on a cold night. After years of use, the blankets become worn. Wyatt Bryant had such a blanket and his grandmother, Peggy Heikkinen, thought it would be a special surprise for Wyatt to have his blanket restored.

Heikkinen, billing specialist at the Child Health Center, asked Corrine Downs, mentor coordinator for the after-school program at Oxford Hills Middle School, if Ring’s students would like to take it on as a community project. The answer was an overwhelming “yes.”

So, during the last couple of months the sewers learned how to use a sewing machine, mend a blanket and how to make a young boy happy.

When the blanket was finished, Wyatt, with his grandmother and grandfather, Alan Hazelton, went to the school to meet the class and pick up the finished piece. Wyatt was overwhelmed with joy when he saw his old friend now like new.

The Child Health Center is a nonprofit organization that strives to improve the lives of children and their families throughout Oxford, Androscoggin and southern Franklin counties. For more information about the center or about mentoring programs, call 743-7035 or visit www.childhealthcenter.org.