Harvest of Hands

As summer is coming to an end, the leaves will soon be changing colors, classrooms will be filling with eager minds, and that means the annual Harvest of Hands fundraiser is just around the corner!

Harvest of Hands is the perfect opportunity to share your talents and skills either at Tuesday craft mornings or Wednesday craft nights (the second and fourth week of each month) or by donating a special project to the Silent Auction. During September the Tuesday morning craft group will be finishing tree skirts and both craft groups will be making Christmas ornaments. Come, meet new people and share in the joy of Harvest of Hands. There will also be an organizational meeting in the Wilderness room at 7pm on September 8.

Don‟t forget when tending your gardens, to please keep Harvest of Hands in mind for dried flowers and canned goods. Harvest of Hands would not be possible without the wonderful people who volunteer their time and talents. Stop by the Harvest of Hands booth at the September 12 Ministry Fair to learn more about Harvest of Hands.

Idella Ziegler

Idella Ziegler

Idella Ziegler with some of the recycled sweaters she organizes each year for Harvest of Hands

When Idella Ziegler was in the second grade, she missed so much school because of frequent ear aches, that she told her mother “I better learn to sew because I’ll never get through school.” Idella did make it through school of course, but enjoyed the sewing and continues to enjoy sewing today. When she started teaching school, one of the things she bought with one of her first pay checks was the sewing machine that she still uses.

When Idella joined Zion in the early 1970s, she soon became involved with Harvest of Hands. It was an era when fewer women were in the work force, and a large group met one morning a week to make quilts and craft items for the fall sale. It was a time for members to meet and many lasting friendships developed. Idella remembers that at exactly 10am Gladys Gilbert would shout, “Time for coffee!” As more women joined the workforce, and the daytime group got smaller, an evening group was added. Now, the groups each meet twice a month. “We welcome new faces, there are so many talented people at Zion,” Idella says. “Try it, you’ll like it!”

Idella’s goal this year is to create 100 items for the sale, and she is well on her way. Families often bring in uncompleted projects after Mom is gone and someone will say, “I bet Idella can finish this,” and yes, Idella loves the challenge. She also feels privileged to speak in worship on behalf of the Harvest of Hands group, motivating others to get involved with preparations and attend the fall event. ” It is easy to speak about something that is so meaningful. Harvest of Hands is the most rewarding project I have been involved with at Zion,” she says. “It is an act of stewardship because we are sharing our gifts to feed the hungry locally and around the world.”

Idella’s family enjoys coming to the Harvest of Hands event each year to see what she has been working on. She  misses Flora Mohring’s lemon meringue pies and Ruth Cornell’s knitted Norwegian mittens, but is excited to see new additions like recycled sweaters and jewelry, and hopes that the tradition continues.

Harvest of Hands Preparations

With three months to go before the Harvest of Hands Festival on November 6, there is something that everyone can do to help to make this a very successful year:

The Wednesday evening Harvest of Hands craft group working on some jewelry projects

  • Create crafts at home or with one of the craft groups at Zion.
  • Help distribute flyers.
  • Donate grocery items for egg rolls, cookies, brunch, etc.
  • Help make egg rolls, cookies, or brunch.
  • Donate white elephants, a silent auction item , jellies, salsas, etc. for the festival
  • Work at the festival on November 6
  • Help set-up or clean-up after the festival.
  • Coordinate an area or project for the festival.

Sign up at ZionBuffalo.org or contact Joy Arens or another committee member for more details. They would love to hear from you or see you at a craft group.

  • During August, the Tuesday morning group will be working on organizing and pricing jewelry and assembling kits to be crafted at home.
  • The Wednesday evening group will be working on beading projects.

Some kits with craft or sewing projects will be available at the information desk for those wanting to work on something at home.

Marie “Bunnie” Wegler

Marie "Bunnie" WeglerMarie is a great-grandmother of four, grandmother of seven, mother of four and the main provider of embroidered dish towels for Zion’s annual Harvest of Hands festival.

Where does Marie find the time to sit down and embroider? Marie’s mother taught her how to embroider when she was a child and she returned to this type of needlework in retirement. Approximately, nine years ago, Sandy Brophy (her daughter and a Zion member) asked her Mom if she would be interested in embroidering some dish towels for Harvest of Hands. Marie replied “Yes” and she has been making them every year since. A couple of years ago, Marie embroidered one hundred dish towels! Her embroidered towels are sought after at the Harvest of Hands event and quickly added to the baskets of the shoppers as her needlework is beautiful – both front and back sides. Marie’s dish towel stitching themes vary from funny to traditional.

Marie is 82 years young and lives in a St. Cloud senior residence where she is a very active participant in bingo, cards and visiting with everyone. Her other interests include reading and singing.

Harvest of Hands is very lucky and very appreciative to have Marie as one of its “stitching treasures.”

Harvest of Hands Schedule

The Harvest of Hands group invites crafters to join them in preparing for the annual Harvest of Hands event in November.

  • The Tuesday morning craft group will meet in the Wilderness Room from 9-11am on June 8 & 22 to work on no-sew tree skirts.
  • The Wednesday evening craft group will meet in the Wilderness Room from 7-9pm on June 9 & 23 to work on jewelry and beading projects.

Gardeners, please remember Harvest of Hands when you are planting and working in your garden this summer.

To Our Volunteers

by Lisa Ellinwood

V is for the Very special people that you are

O is for the Overwhelming support & compassion you offer others during their time of need

L is for the Little things you do that make such a difference in someone’s life

U is for the Unspoken words that sometimes mean just as much

N is for the Need you fill when others aren’t able

T is for the Time you give of yourselves on top of your own busy schedules

E is for the Emotional support you continually give

E is also for the Endless energy you all seem to possess

R is for the Responsibility you have taken on & never once complained

S is for the Smiles you bring to everyone by just being you

Pastor Ted Visiting With Harvest of Hands Group

If you’ve not visited with the Harvest of Hands craft group before, Wednesday, May 12 would be a great time to plan on it. Pastor Ted will be visiting with the group to learn more about what Harvest of Hands does. Refreshments will be served at the meeting. Those who are already involved are also welcome to stop by and share your thoughts, experiences, and concerns about HOH.  After the visit with Pastor Ted, there will be time for crafts for those who are interested.

The Harvest of Hands craft group will meet in the Wilderness room this month on Tuesday mornings May 11 & 25 at 9am and Wednesday Evenings May 12 & 26 at 7pm. Specific crafts will be listed in the Sunday bulletins.

Cleaning Your Closet?

sweater binIf you have sweaters in good condition that you no longer wear, now is the time to set them aside and plan to bring them in to the collection box in the narthex from May 2-16. Harvest of Hands volunteers will clean and store sweaters until the sale in November.

Also, as you are planting your garden this year, please remember the fall Harvest of Hands festival. Garden items go fast at the sale.

Each year the proceeds from sweaters sold at Harvest of Hands raise several hundred dollars to benefit the Buffalo Food Shelf and world hunger.

Thanks Dean!

New ShelvesCome into the Wilderness Room to see the new shelves Dean Guida built and installed. He donated his time and energy for this project, and those that use that room for sewing mission quilts and for crafting for Harvest of Hands are especially grateful for their new storage area. It is amazing what a difference the new shelves make.

At last there is a place off the floor to store materials where they are accessible and organized. The whole room is a much more pleasant workplace for the crafters, as well as more functional for Sunday school and the other groups that use the room.

Hardanger and Krumkake

Marlys Gillund

Marlys Gillund making Krumkake at Harvest of Hands

Krumkake is a thin cookie baked on a special krumkake iron. It is rolled on a wooden cone while it is still hot.

Marlys Gillund has demonstrated the baking of krumkake since Harvest of Hands first started. Adeline Erickson has helped her roll them for a few years. She enjoy doing it and visiting with the people who stop to watch and purchase them. This is one of her favorite Scandinavian delicacies. She likes to bake and has been baking since she was nine years old. She does a lot of baking around Christmas and gives most of it away.

Marlys also does a lot of Hardanger. This is a delicate form of open work embroidery which originated in the Hardanger region of Norway hundreds of years ago. It gradually spread to other parts of Europe, and eventually came to the United States with the Scandinavian immigrants.

Marlys bought a book and taught herself through trial and error. Everything has to be perfect so when you cut and pull threads, it all comes out right. She makes hundreds of doilies, runners, and other pieces including valances for her kitchen windows.

These two hobbies are something Marlys truly enjoys, and we at Zion are fortunate that she is able to use her gifts to help Harvest of Hands.

Harvest of Hands

You are invited to join Harvest of Hands in creating craft items for the annual festival in November.

If you have any decorative buttons that you do not need or want, please consider donating them to HOH for some upcoming craft projects. Please drop them off in the Wilderness Room.

  • The Tuesday morning craft group will meet in the Wilderness Room from 9-11am on April 13 to help prepare for a VBS mission project, and on April 27 to make tree skirts.
  • The Wednesday evening craft group will meet in the Wilderness Room from 7-9pm on April 14 to work on a bead projects, and on April 28 to work on ornaments.

Sewers Needed for VBS Mission Project

Do you enjoy sewing? Would you share your time and talents to help out Zion‟s VBS mission project? The project for this year involves creating 150 stuffed animals to be sent to children in need through Sharing & Caring Hands and local emergency services.

Volunteers are needed to help sew the stuffed animals, so the VBS children and stuff them and send them on their way. Volunteers can work at home or together at a “sewing party” at Zion at 9am on April 13 with the Harvest of Hands crew. Please contact Holly Husom if you are interested in helping.

Of course, if you want to help in any other way with other VBS preparation or during the week of VBS, Holly or Roxie would love to hear from you!

Mel Gillund, Woodcarver

Mel GillundMel first carved as a young boy growing up on the family farm in Anoka county. With a love of wood inherited from his Norwegian grandfather, he saved his few coins and purchased a pocket jack knife at his uncle‟s country store. Wood from old apple boxes, peach crates, and from the local forest was plentiful. He carved many of his own toys such as small animals, sling shots, toy guns, and Whirl-a-Gig wind toys.

In the late 1970s, Mel was re-introduced to carving by a co-worker at the wholesale distribution company where he worked as a farm supplies buyer. He accompanied his friend to a weekend carving show at Northtown Mall. It was there he learned to carve a stylized bird from Honduran mahogany. He went on to carve more stylized and realistic birds, and some waterfowl.

In 1987, Mel saw an interesting pattern for a Santa Claus figure with the suggestion to carve it from the trunk of a discarded Christmas tree. That kind of wood proved to be a bad choice so he used basswood, the wood preferred by most carvers. He carved two Santas in that style, giving one to his wife, Marlys, and the other to her mother, as Christmas gifts. Since then he has carved more than 5,000 Santa Claus figures of many designs. He has also carved hundreds of Christmas tree ornaments, and many other types of carvings. He has many local and out of state customers, and has given many carvings to family and friends, and to charitable fundraisers such as Zion‟s Harvest of Hands.

Mel is mostly self taught. He has taken several classes from well-known Scandinavian carving instructors. He is a member of the National Wood Carvers Association, the Minnesota Wood Carvers Association, and the local Community Education carvers group at the Buffalo Middle School. He is also active with a group of carvers at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.

It‟s been a great hobby that has kept an old man “off the streets and out of the coffee shops.”

Harvest of Hands Update

Harvest of Hands will meet this month on Tuesday mornings March 9 &23 at 9am and Wednesday evenings March 20 &24 at 7:15pm (after Lenten worship).

In January, volunteers completed over 15 fleece blankets for the annual sale. February projects include Shoulder Snuggies Tuesday mornings and beading on Wednesday evenings.

Harvest of Hands relies on volunteers like you produce the crafts that are sold at the annual November festival.

Young Sisters in Christ

by Lee Ann Goerss

I love to share my passion for art with students. I find myself learning more from them and am always inspired by their imagination. Their creative spirits give witness to God, our Creator; and, Artist Extraordinaire.

I’m also thankful for the commitment and devotion of the Harvest of Hands crew, who raise thousands of dollars annually to feed the hungry locally and across the globe. When I volunteered to teach Sunday School this year, it was on the top of my list to involve my students in this mission.

So, early in the fall, I talked to my fifth and sixth grade girls about designing a project for the Silent Auction. They were very enthusiastic about their chance to “make a difference”. We partnered up with our “Sister” class at the 10:30 service. And, with a mixture of art and faith they created a colorful original entitled “Sisters in Christ”.

I am proud of the heartfelt gift of these “young” Sisters in Christ; and, I look forward to a continuing connection between Sunday School students and Harvest of Hands.

HOH Sisters

Sunday school students with their work of art for Harvest of Hands

Harvest of Hands

We Are So Blessed

Harvest of Hands , the annual festival and brunch organized by Zion members to benefit local and world hunger raised over $28,000 in 2009.

Funds raised through the 2009 festival will be distributed through the Buffalo Food Shelf and the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.  A larger share will go to the Buffalo Food Shelf to help people in need in our own community due to the economic situation.

  • The Buffalo Food Shelf will receive quarterly donations of $4,500.
  • $10,000 will go to ELCA World Hunger, designated to help victims of the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.
  • $150 has already been given to the Buffalo Food Shelf Christmas Meals project in December.

February Schedule and Projects

The morning craft group meets from 9-11am on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday in the Wilderness Room. February dates are the 9th and 23rd. Projects will include fleece blankets & “Snuggy” bed jackets.

The evening craft group meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday in the Wilderness Room. On February 10 the group meets at the usual 7pm time. On February 24 the group meets at 7:15pm after Lenten worship. Projects will include beading & ornaments.

Share a New Craft

Do you have a special craft, talent, or skill that you like to do?  Would you like to share that with our group?  If so, please contact Joy at 763-658-6124.  Participants enjoy trying new ideas and crafts.  Last year volunteers learned how to make stained glass projects, crochet, and knit.

Consider joining the Harvest of Hands crew for a few hours of fun and friendship.  They have a great time working on projects all through the year and would enjoy your company.  If you have any questions or need supplies, please contact Joy.

Open My Eyes That I May See

By Sherilyn Burgdorf

Some of us see what’s around us and others really see the big picture of God’s creation. Zion and the Buffalo community are fortunate to have the artistic talents of Howard Burgdorf in our midst. His eye for color, design, and detail have made many spaces come to life in new ways.

Howard Burgdorf

Howard Burgdorf with one of the Marysville pictures he donated to the 2009 Harvest of Hands silent auction.

After growing up in the Chicago area Howard went to Bethany College (Mankato) and the University of Illinois-Urbana to study graphic arts. He’s used his creative eye to design many business publications and corporate reports through his years of studio work at the University Press in Illinois and at graphic arts studios in the Twin Cities. Imagine doing lettering for business reports by hand, one letter at a time, instead of selecting a font style and size on your computer. Imagine doing color checks in the middle of the night with printing companies to make sure every color was done correctly. Graphic arts have changed in the past years and so has Howard’s array of art.

Howard’s retirement to Buffalo meant a whole new vision. The old barns and buildings around the area, including the Marysville Church, became a focus of his art. Zion’s Harvest of Hands event is the recipient of an annual painting done by Howard for the silent auction. “Painting ‘Marysville’ for Harvest of Hands has gotten to be a tradition for me. In a small way I want to continue its 107 year witness.”

Howard also uses global trips and interest in all kinds of art to expand his “big picture” to watercolor, acrylics, chalk, sketching, sculpture, and photography. While other people take vacations to see the world at a glance, Howard sees the everyday scenes and turns them into amazing sketches: ones that are appreciated even when language is a barrier.

Howard’s paintings in watercolor, acrylic, and chalk have become favorites at the silent auction each year and even though the building doesn’t change, the paintings are unique each year. In a few months, we’ll see what Howard’s “big picture” of Marysville brings for 2010.

Harvest of Hands Starting Beading

The 2009 Harvest of Hands Festival was a great success. Craft nights will kick off again on Wednesday evening, January 13,  at 7pm in the Wilderness Room (behind the kitchen). The group will work on a beading project.

If you have any ideas for crafts, we would love to hear your ideas. If you would like to work on crafts at home and need supplies, please contact a committee member (stop by Wednesday night or get contact information from the church office).

Mini-Sale Raised $670 for the Food Shelf

Thanks to those who shopped at the HOH Mini-Sale on December 13. An additional $670 was raised for the for the Buffalo Food Shelf.

The Harvest of Hands Committee wishes you a Merry Christmas and a very blessed 2010 and looks forward to working with you in the new year.

Over $26,000 To Feed Hungry

Harvest of Hands is winding down another successful year thanks to your generosity of time, donations, and shopping.

Harvest of Hands Festival is an annual festival and brunch organized by Zion members to benefit local and world hunger through the Buffalo Food Shelf and the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.

Proceeds from the November sale were $11,442.45. Thrivent and another anonymous donor are each providing an additional $1,000 in matching funds.   This year an anonymous donor is providing a matching gift for the total amount raised, bringing the total this year to an amazing $26,884.90.  Specific designations of these funds have not been determined yet.

The Harvest of Hand Committee would like to personally, thank each of you, but that is not possible.  So, as you read this, please hear their voice: “Thank you for your contribution to such a worthy cause.  It is greatly appreciated.”

Planning for the next festival has begun, and the committee is already looking for projects and volunteers for 2010. Please join other volunteers on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 9am or the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at 7pm in the Wilderness Room. The friendships, the satisfaction of a good job done, and the contribution to a needy and worthwhile cause are very rewarding.  The kickoff meeting for 2010 will be Wednesday, January 13 at 7pm.

Contact Joy at 763.300.4542 with any questions about Harvest of Hands.