Posted on 08/02/2005 5:17:10 PM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA - In World War I, women made and rolled bandages for Americans wounded in combat.
In World War II, women knitted socks, to keep GIs' feet clean and comfortable.
Now, a group of Sierra Vista women are sewing neck coolers for soldiers in hot Iraq and will be taking on knitting caps to keep them warm when the weather in that nation turns cold.
"Women are awesome when they decide to do something," June Kennedy said Monday.
It was the second Monday that a few women gathered in her house.
The sounds of a sewing machine stitching a thin piece of material and the smell of an iron pressing the cotton cloth were noticeable, as small talk filled parts of the house.
The project, which Kennedy calls "Sewing up a Storm for the Troops," began when she read an article in the July issue of "Currents," the magazine put out by the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Co-operative.
The scarf-like coolers are simple to make, she said of the project that had its start in Illinois.
A metal tube and wooden dowel are the main tools, after a piece of cloth has been nearly sewn shut. The cloth is inserted into the cooper tube, followed by a dowel to turn the cloth inside out. The two-part turning process leaves an empty section in which four small pockets are created, each to be filled with a quarter ounce of polymer. Once the polymer is added, the pockets are sewn shut.
Once the soldiers get the coolers all they have to do is soak them in water and then the polymer becomes a cooling agent, Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the polymer "feels like and looks like rock salt."
Except for the polymer, the items needed for the coolers, copper tubing, wooden dowels, the 100 percent pre-washed cotton and thread were purchased locally, she said.
The idea of cooling scarves is not new.
The have been used by gardeners and others who spend time in the heat, she said.
Sylvia Rosenkrans, who was busy ironing, said the only difference between the cooling scarf she has and what is being made for soldiers "is mine has flowers on it."
A floral design is not what the Army needs, but rather bland, brown and tan are the colors that fit the soldiers' camouflage requirements.
"I thought the idea (for the neck coolers) for soldiers was terrific," Rosenkrans said.
Kennedy said as far as she knows this is the first knitting-and-sewing bee supporting America's troops in Iraq.
But it is not the first effort to provide cooling devices.
Jana Proctor began purchasing 10-ounce misters from a Phoenix company in 2003.
So far, through donations, she has seen the misters either carried by Fort Huachuca soldiers to assignments in Iraq or had them shipped to them.
There is no competition between the mechanical misters and the neck coolers.
Each will provide soldiers a measure of relief.
Kennedy will accept donations to purchase the material, especially Andean wool from Peru for the caps to be worn under helmets. The caps will also provide neck and mouth protection from cold weather.
Providing support for soldiers by making them more comfortable is what American civilians not in Iraq can do, she said.
As long as America's armed forces are in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places where temperature extreme exists - hot and cold - the Sierra Vista women will keep as busy as bees sewing neck coolers and knitting wool caps for the troops, she said.
"It's just a little something we can do for them," Kennedy said.
ping
YES!!!!!!!!!!!
that's very "cool" grams!
I love these ladies! They are great. Their sewing are true "prayers" for our troops.
When are you going to start a group in your area?
ping
Neat! I just bought a cooling scarf from REI for the trip to the Dominican Republic this month (going with a mission team). I tested it out a couple of weeks ago, and it does help a lot!
(snip)
The project, which Kennedy calls "Sewing up a Storm for the Troops," began when she read an article in the July issue of "Currents," the magazine put out by the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Co-operative.
Thanks for the ping!
I used to have really good ones, but haven't recently found ones that work well. Thanks for the tip on checking out REI.
Those things really are amazing when they work (saved me from melting on the tarmac at Hunter Army Airfield/Ft. Stewart in Georgia while wearing protective gear one August).
Three cheers and a tiger for the ladies.
BTTT!!!!!!!
Good find.
Thanks Ladies!
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