By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
When the coronavirus pandemic forced cancellation of the Yachats Ladies Club’s traditional fundraising activities this year, members took the opportunity to provide a different service to the community.
Traditionally, the club’s goal of promoting the welfare of the community has been rooted in activities that sound gloriously old-timey — pie socials and hand-crafted gifts bazaars.
But now the club has taken a sharp turn into 2020 — making COVID-19 face masks.
Club members have been sewing masks as an alternative to their usual fund-raising activities since the first government-ordered lockdown in March, said club president Huck Hutchins. Until this year, those activities included three holiday pie-and-ice-cream socials plus Christmas and spring crafts bazaars.
“Because we’re non-profit, we needed to do something to raise funds, so we’re doing this,” Hutchins said, gesturing to the mask-laden tables at the Ladies Club booth at the Yachats Farmers Market over the July 4 weekend.
While a $5 donation per mask is suggested, some people give less, some more and some who can’t afford any donation get a mask for free.
“Our goal is to keep everybody covered”
The mask project is the brainchild of club member Anne Burnett.
“At first we were giving them away for free,” Burnett said, “but demand skyrocketed, and people jumped in to help. Our goal is to keep everybody covered.”
Since the masks were first offered, the club has made and distributed almost 2,000 of them.
Available in a riot of colors and patterns, plus sizes to suit kids to adults, the masks are all comprised of three filters; some have a pocket to add a fourth. All have a flexible nose wire for a close fit, which solves the fogged eyeglasses problem many mask-wearers experience.
“Just place the mask high on your nose, then put your glasses on over the mask,” Hutchins advises.
Most of the fabric (“hundreds of yards,” estimated Hutchins) is donated by club member Pat Frishkoff of Eugene. Frishkoff, who owns a house in Yachats, mails the fabric to Hutchins. Then, the sewing squad takes over: Hutchins, Burnett, and club members Julie Collins, Claudia Simmons, Gunnell Nelson, Johanna Kaufman and Sandy White.
These days, the 44-member Ladies Club sells upwards of 175 masks each week. Their booth is a popular fixture at the farmers market on West Second Street where signs and attendants tout the “No mask no admission” policy.
Plans are to keep operating the booth through the summer. Additionally, the club keeps a basket in the interior lobby of the Post Office, where people can sign up to order masks. Masks can also be requested through the club’s website: https://yachatsladiesclub.org/.
“We want people to be safe. By supporting the Ladies Club, you’re supporting the community,” said Hutchins.
The club has historically donated $6,000 to $10,000 each year from its fund-raisers to Yachats-area nonprofits, such as the library, food pantry, Samaritan House Family Shelter, CASA of Lincoln County and several others. This year, it’s “impossible to estimate” how much might come in from mask sales, Hutchins said.
A giant mask at City Hall
A special “order” came in over two weeks ago from Yachats City Manager Shannon Beaucaire. She asked Hutchins if the club needed a creative project: a giant face mask that would fit the marquee in front of the Yachats Commons.
“We are looking for ways to support our businesses in getting messaging out about the governor’s directives: social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands,” Beaucaire said. “We’re also trying to find fun ways to reduce any of the negativity around the directives, rather than telling people what to do.”
Hutchins set to work on an 8-foot by 10-foot polypropylene tarp, cutting it in half, pleating it like a face mask, and sewing down the edges. Then Johanna Kaufman painted the design, featuring big, red lips and the words “Wearing is Caring,” and she and her husband, Light, installed it.
The attention-getting banner went up July 3, replacing one put up by the city.
“Everybody’s been taking pictures, and cheering as they drive by,” said Hutchins.
The giant mask is “designed to be weather-resistant, so it will be up as long as we need it to be,” Beaucaire said. “I think it turned out better than I ever could have imagined.”