Natalie Grove
For this past Christmas, Elizabeth Davis, 75, hand crocheted more than a hundred toys for the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District’s Christmas Sharing Tree.
“She is a bona fide Santa in our home and in the community,” said her granddaughter Jeanett Davis.
Elizabeth Davis started crocheting her gifts as an evening project back in May.
“I finished the first bag of them, then thought, ‘I’ll just do some more.’”
“Some more” turned into about 120 and a huge family project, as Davis just kept crocheting toys from yarn hunted down by her son. It took Davis between three and eight hours to make each toy. She made dolls, penguins, teddy bears and dragons, to name a few.
“It was a real family project,” Davis said. The whole family turned out to help deliver the 15 to 20 donated bags of toys to the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District’s Christmas tree.
This project isn’t Davis’ first foray into donating to the community.
According to Jeanett, Davis’ outreach to the Sweet Home community started soon after the family moved here in 1994. Davis has been a faithful contributor to the Christmas tree at the fire station for over 20 years. In years past, she made dolls and blankets for the tree while her husband built homemade cradles for them.
Davis hasn’t been limited to Christmas time for her volunteer efforts. Jeanett said her grandmother also has helped out over the years in fund-raising efforts for Camp Attitude; volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and Key Club at bake sales and fundraisers; donating food, jackets and backpacks to local schools as well as S.H.E.M.; sewing and donating bonnets for Oak Heights students studying the Oregon Trail; and sewing aprons for the Head Start program.
Jeanett Davis said she’s already participating in the family tradition of helping others and her own daughter Emma wants to join in.
“Emma watched her great-grandma making the toys all year, and came along to deliver them,” Jeanett said.
Elizabeth said she has plans for her 6-year-old great-granddaughter.
“I’ll teach her (to crochet) when she’s old enough,” says Davis.
Since donating these, she hasn’t taken a break. The day after Christmas, a new pile of toys was already starting to rise, along with a bag of new hats for cancer patients.
“It’s just fun,” Davis says.