Community Led Learning

By Annette Codding

   Sewing, butchering chickens, making herbal teas, and growing food are just a few of the skills that a lot of folks in our community have been learning about lately. It seems that more than ever, people are realizing that there are a lot of cool things to learn, and they are ready to try their hand at a new skill. To some of you, these may seem to be simple and something you grew up with. But there are a couple of generations after you that weren’t taught how to do these things.
   I personally think the television being in every home and a mega grocery store in every big town had a lot to do with it. Processed foods and sugar played a big part in the lack of needing to learn these things. You may think that food and sugar didn't have anything to do with it, but I have arguments to sway your thinking. That is for another day, though.
   Before TVs were in every home, what did people do in the evening? They worked on things. They tinkered with projects and talked and learned how to do the skills that could make everyday life easier and more enjoyable. A lot of times a grandparent was still around the homestead and could spend time on things like teaching the youngins. I love to listen to people reminisce about the time spent with that older person, watching them work.
   Recently, I asked a group of people about skills that their grandparents or great-grandparents knew how to do, but they themselves didn’t. I received so many interesting answers. Many echoed each other…sewing, gardening, quilting, and canning. Other skills mentioned were harness making, mechanic work, housekeeping, speaking other languages, tatting, and crocheting.
   Sewing and quilting popped up over and over. It seems that so many people, men included, remember their moms or grandmas sewing things and want to also learn how. Some of the ladies had machines that they have never even used or knew how to set up. Others just need to pull them out and brush off the dust.
   It just so happened that I had already set up a sewing day at the Cassia Community Club for anyone who wanted to get together and sew. Thankfully there are two local ladies who volunteered to come teach and coach. Melissa Hall has been sewing her whole life and comes from a line of talented seamstresses. Angela Beverly has been sewing for years and in the past few years "inherited" a sewing ministry at her church. A lot of the older ladies were passing on or moving away, so being young and willing, Angela got volunteered to head it up. That's the way it goes!
   Among our group of ladies were all skill levels of sewing. I thought the time was going to be filled with just teaching everyone how to thread their machine. Boy was I wrong! It turned out that many of the ladies knew how to sew and had a project in mind, they just needed the time, space, and a good reason to get started.
   So, we sewed, talked, laughed, and worked together for a morning. We discussed life, family, and cooking. It really reminded me of an old-time sewing party, not that I have ever been to one. But in my mind, this is what it would have looked like. Ladies getting together, sitting around and working on a project, all while encouraging each other and offering advice and help.
   I just remembered that my grandma and her sisters and my great-grandma would get together and play dominos. They did this for many years until Mom Johnson (my great-grandmother) died at age 103. My mom and her cousins still get together for Sunday brunches. One day last year, I stopped by her place for a minute when she had them all over. A few minutes turned to three hours. I just couldn’t leave those stories. When I got home, I let a hunting dog out and he immediately “hunted” five nice hens. It was my fault so he wasn’t in trouble, just penned back up. But as I stood there looking at that pile of fresh killed hens, my mind went back to the morning. “What would those ladies do?” Well, I ended up cleaning all of those birds and making a big pot of stock. There’s no way that they would have let all those hens go to waste.
   Which is another skill that popped up…wasting nothing. That is definitely something that we can all get better at and our friend, Nancy Gruner, showed us one way on sewing day. She made the most adorable reversible apron…from a set of pillow shams. Robin McInnis made an apron from a salvaged tablecloth. And Dawn Brosowsky worked on an apron made from re-purposed material. Tegan Reed learned to mend clothing, another almost-lost skill.
   The day was such a success and so much fun that we decided to make our little sewing circle a regular thing. Next month, we will learn to clean our machines and maybe even learn a little bit about starting a quilt. I am so encouraged and inspired by the people wanting to learn. My friend, Jill, talked about how our grandparents’ generation wasn’t called the Greatest Generation for nothing. She’s right, and I love how we are getting back to our roots. Until next time, get outside, and learn something new!