INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – Started by a small group of women who belonged to St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church and enjoyed knitting and crocheting, the Knitters Guild of Incline Village, gathered together to support the Winter Warmth &Wellness campaign on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe.
Members of the Knitters Guild have been creating and donating items for many, many years. This year, Knitters Guild donated more than 150 knitted and crocheted articles, which included hats, scarves, blankets, cowls, shawls, among other items.
More than 25 years ago, Winter Warmth & Wellness (as it’s known today and for the past 10 years), was part of a clothing distribution during a Thanksgiving food sharing program to needy families in the North Lake Tahoe community. Items such as gently used winter wear, household necessities, personal care items, hand-made hats, gloves, scarves, blankets and more are collected at locations throughout the north shore of Lake Tahoe, with drop off points at a variety of locations, including Village Church, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Cornerstone Community Church, St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, and North Tahoe Event Center.
Collection takes place mid-September to mid-October, when the weather changes, and the goods are offered toward the end of October. This year, distribution took place on October 25 at the North Tahoe Event Center in Kings Beach, and more than 130 families benefited from the generosity of the community.
Members of The Knitters Guild, part of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church’s community outreach program, meets on an informal basis and visit with each other, sharing patterns and ideas. The group has evolved into one that finds pleasure in making warm clothing and blankets for families who need them in Incline Village and around the Tahoe basin area.
Members live in Incline Village, Tahoe City, Truckee and as far out as Spanish Springs. The Knitters Guild meets every Wednesday from 1– 3 p.m. in the library of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 341 Village Boulevard, Incline Village, NV.
Several hundred items are handmade and donated to numerous organizations each year, including Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, which receives layettes for newborns, and blankets for Long Term Care patients; hats, scarves, mittens and other warm items are part of the Winter Warmth & Wellness event each October. The Gene Upshaw Cancer Center in Truckee is grateful for chemo caps, made of very soft yarn for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Eddy House in Reno also benefits from the hats and scarves created and donated by the members of the Knitters Guild. The Guild receives support from the community by donations of yarns, patterns and knitting needles and crochet hooks.
Over the years, and before the COVID pandemic, the Guild members were also part of the Incline Village After-School Program as they taught knitting and crocheting at the Incline Elementary School on Monday afternoons.
For further information, please contact Millie Szerman at MillieSz746@gmail.com or call 775-833-3311.
