by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Last Saturday, the hustle-and-bustle inside the Schlueter garage in Sauk Rapids looked like a scene at Santa’s workshop at the North Pole.
“Elves” of all ages stuffed Christmas stockings with lots of goodies for people in need, mostly children.
The elaborate good deed is an annual tradition at the Al and Kathy Schlueter home. It all began almost 15 years ago when Kathy’s 22-year-old nephew, Aaron Herman of Rice, died so unexpectedly right after picking up his wedding announcements in St. Cloud with his fiancée. On the drive home to his Rice residence, his fiancée along with, Aaron suddenly grabbed his neck. Something was terribly wrong, his fiancée knew at once as she grabbed the wheel. Aaron died later at the hospital. Unknown to him and others, he had a birth defect that caused a valve to burst.
The tragedy devastated so many who knew Aaron, including Aunt Kathy and her family. An expert sewer and crafter, Kathy was asked to make one of her Teddy Bears in honor of Aaron, and so she did. She made the bear using some of Aaron’s clothing, sewed a vest for the bear and sewed Aaron’s name on it. Everyone was moved by the sight of the bear, by memories of Aaron’s untimely death.
That was one example of Kathy’s “Memory Bears.” She has made many of them in honor of people who’ve died.
It was about the time of Aaron’s death that Kathy’s family, relatives and acquaintances urged her to expand her skills into a Christmas-stocking project for people in need. It didn’t take much convincing; she loved the idea.
Kathy suffers from a lung disease, which keeps her hooked up to oxygen. She doesn’t have a lot of strength or energy to do more active pursuits and so her sewing and crafts are made to order for her limited movements. The stocking project rapidly became a “family affair,” a labor of love for Kathy’s husband, their children, grandchildren, relatives and friends.
Last Saturday, about two dozen of them became a virtual work force inside the garage, packing the stockings – 1,500 of them – all day long and into the early evening. After years of doing it, they’ve become a smooth-operating work force, with people ages senior to wee children helping stuff the stockings. Inside the garage were three very long tables with walkways in between. Each table was filled with large boxes holding a huge variety of stocking treats: candy, little books, mini-bonnets, kiddie mittens, skin-care lotions, tiny toys and other bright-and-shiny fun items. Each volunteer would grab a sock and then walk down each walkway, stuffing each stocking with gender- and age-appropriate goodies – all of it figured out beforehand.
Each colorful sock is about 16-17 inches tall and hand-sewn by Kathy with a snazzy, striking border on the top of the sock. After they are stuffed, the socks bulge to bursting with all the treats inside them. Then they are carefully placed in boxes for delivery in time for Christmas.
Besides Kathy and Al, the helpers included their children and their spouses: Jeff and Melissa Schlueter of Holdingford, and Julie and Jeremy Karls and Jenny and Jeremy Kenning, all of Sartell. All of the grandchildren also helped: Jeff and Melissa’s children Aubrey and Aidah (baby Harrison is too young to help); Julie and Jeremy’s children Hailey and Bentley; and Jenny and Jeremy’s children Christian, Cole and Creed. Christian, 18, is the oldest of the Schlueters’ grandchildren.
Other long-time helpers are the mother-daughter team of Lee and Janel Adelman of Sauk Rapids, who read about the stocking project in a newspaper years ago and decided to help out.
The stockings will go to a number of places, all of them and the numbers of stockings prearranged long before the packing of the goodies. This year, the stockings will be delivered or sent to the Anna Marie Women’s Shelter, homeless war veterans through the Minnesota Warriors Beyond the Yellow Ribbon organization, the Salvation Army, residents of the St. Cloud Children’s Home and even places in Iowa and Georgia.
The Georgia connection came about after Kathy watched a singer from Georgia on American Idol, a singer who did fundraising for a home in Georgia for children who had lost both parents for one reason or another. Kathy sought out that home’s website and has been sending Christmas stockings to them ever since.
Another favorite recipient is the Christian Midwest Services ranch home in Iowa for troubled young boys.
The Schlueter helpers aren’t just expert stuffers; they are also hawk-eyed shoppers who can spot a sale a mile away. They often go to post-Christmas sales to get items for the next year’s stocking project. They also seek out donations from generous people, organizations and businesses.
Every deer-hunting weekend, Kathy hosts a fundraising craft sale for “hunting widows,” and she uses all the proceeds to buy sewing items for the stocking project.
“We all look for sales at stores year-round,” Kathy said. “We have one whole room in the basement lined with shelves where we store items for the next year. I like to do this project, first of all because I love children, and second because it’s another reminder to us all that we should appreciate what we have. People really don’t need that much in life. You don’t always need the best, and so many people have nothing. If you quit needing always the best, you can start helping other people, the ones who have nothing.”
Anybody who would like to donate to the Christmas Stocking project for this season or next can send a check to Kathy Schlueter, with “Christmas Stocking” written on the memo line to: Kathy Schlueter, 420 Ninth Ave. N., Sauk Rapids, MN 56379.
Kathy Stueve of St. Cloud (left) and Hailey Karls, 5, Sartell, hold up Christmas stockings they filled at the Schlueter residence in Sauk Rapids. Hailey is the granddaughter of Al and Kathy Schlueter and the daughter of Julie and Jeremy Karls. Hailey was one of the helpers at the Schlueter residence when they held their annual Christmas stocking-stuffing event to help the less fortunate. They stuffed a grand total of 1,500 stockings.
Working in a corner of her garage, Kathy Schlueter keeps careful track of each Christmas sock and what each has to be filled with to match the needs of each and every recipient. This year, she and her helpers stuffed 1,500 of the stockings. It’s their annual good deed for Christmas for people in need.
Diane Muhlbauer of St. Cloud holds up two of the Christmas stockings that will be given to girls through various agencies.
Deborah Lanz of Moundsview (left) and Debbie Herman of Rice fill stockings from the candy table in the Al and Kathy Schlueter garage in Sauk Rapids.
photo by Dennis Dalman
Al Schlueter packs the stuffed socks into boxes, ready for distribution to the many places who give the stockings to people for Christmas.
Bright Christmas colors and decorations adorn the stockings Kathy Schlueter makes for her annual “Christmas Stockings” program.
Boxes, bowls and bins of candy are just some of the treats used to fill Christmas stockings at the Schlueter residence in Sauk Rapids.
