LEWISTON — When Therese Morissette Deschenes went home after the third shift at Bates Mill 50 years ago, she found she had worn her apron, filled with the curled lint that she had cleaned from Spinning Machine Number 4.

Since it was near Christmas, the idea occurred to her to make a large Santa head from cardboard, using the curled lint as his beard.

Deschenes now resides in Schooner Estates in Auburn and her Santa creation, which hung on her garage window for decades worth of holiday seasons, is now part of Museum L-A’s collection.

It is on exhibit through Thursday, Dec. 23, to celebrate the holidays and the creativity of millworkers like Deschenes.

Museum L-A is located at 35 Canal St. in the Bates Mill Complex and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 333-3881 or visit online at www.museumla.org.