By Peter Lyons Hall
On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, students in the third grade class of Greenwood Lake Elementary School “Sew What Club,” together with their teacher, Laurie Sanford, presented the Village Board members a special quilt they had created in honor of the Village Centennial.
Students Haley, Sophia, Jackie, Aiden, Ayla, and Angel spoke about the quilt, describing the ingredients each selected for their unique portion of the quilt. Angel spoke about their class content, “This year we are learning about the history of Greenwood Lake,” he reported “and then we each boarded our square using a back stitch.” Aiden said that “We had to plan our colors and carefully stitch them because some of the images were very detailed.” Volunteers from the Senior Center helped the kids during the production of the quilt. They included Mrs. Valpone, Mrs. Hooper, Ms. Di Matina, Mrs. Guzzo, and Mrs. Pitiger. Then Jackie described how the process worked: “Once the squares were finished, Mrs. Sanford assembled them on the sewing machine. We are dedicating the project to the Village of Greenwood Lake.”
Ms Sanford reminded the audiences present and those viewing the meeting on Facebook and the Village YouTube channel how much she appreciated the assistance of the seniors, without whom her class would not have been able to finish this important and timely project. After holding up the completed quilt, she introduced each of the children who got to identify the square he or she worked on. Angel did the Gloria Rocket Plane, commemorating the first air mail flight of letters and postcards. Aiden did the Iron Mines that were the source of the steel used to construct many buildings in New York City. Jackie did the Railroad car, an integral historical mode of transportation that took passengers from New York City to many of the grand hotels along the lakeshore. Sophia did the Greenwood Lake Sailboat, one of the many ways that visitors and residents enjoyed the beautiful lake. Haley did the Baseball Sports that reflected how much time Yankee Great Babe Ruth spent in the Village. Finally Ayla did the Mountain Ice Company because Greenwood Lake was such an important source for ice harvesting for hotels throughout New York city.
Not all the students who worked on this unique artwork were able to be present that night. There were a total of 13 original squares that the students worked on, together with a photo of the class, that were presented to the village Board members that evening, with a curtain rod that the class hope will facilitate it being placed on display at Village Hall so that visitors and residents can learn more about the Village Centennial celebration that continues to take place this year.
All members of the Village Board applauded the children’s presentation and reassured them that their quilt would find a prominent place on the walls of Village Hall! To learn more about upcoming Centennial events click on GWLCentennial.org for the Art Show and exhibit Saturday, June 2 and much more.
Photo credits: Nancy Clifford
