Tribute to humanitarian effort

SACKETS HARBOR — Past and present, artistry and social action intertwine in a special exhibit at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center.

"Passing on the Comfort: The War, the Quilts and the Women Who Made a Difference," open on weekends though June 28, features a collection of quilts made by Mennonite women in the United States and Canada that were used by refugees fleeing the postwar Soviet Union.

As part of the Mennonite tradition of providing humanitarian supplies around the world, the quilts were sent to An Keuning-Tichelaar, a Dutch Mennonite woman, who with her husband, Herman, sheltered refugees in their home in the Netherlands, one stop on their journey to safety.

Local Mennonite women have volunteered as docents for the exhibit, which tells the story behind the quilts, provides information on Mennonite humanitarian traditions through today and includes examples of modern Mennonite quilts.

In a short documentary visitors can watch at the exhibit, Mrs. Keuning-Tichelaar tells how the Mennonite Central Committee would send van loads of quilts for her to use as she sheltered a long line of Nazi Resistance workers, war evacuees and refugees.

Many people took the quilts with them as they fled. Most of the remaining ones had to be burned after the war because of vermin infestations, but a handful survived.

"I always felt they were something precious," Mrs. Keuning-Tichelaar says in the video.

"Each piece had its own story. When I thought about it, I used to wonder. Why could a woman spare this skirt? Did this child die on a journey? Or did the mother die? What was the story? I always felt that this aspect was the exceptional value of the quilts."

Adeline M. Knechtel, Mannsville, the docent who was on duty Saturday, contributed one of her own quilts to the exhibit as an example of modern Mennonite quilt-making.

"Mennonites believe that peacemaking is at the core of the gospel and emphasize the importance of community and simple living," reads a card in the exhibit.

Mrs. Knechtel spoke of the way that belief is embedded in the everyday lives of Mennonites, through a tradition of providing practical humanitarian supplies to disaster areas.

For example, Mrs. Knechtel made 28 quilt tops by cutting up and piecing together outdated used clothing.

She thinks about her own homemade donations in practical, personal terms.

"When I see people on the street, I think about how I don't like to be cold when I sleep," she said. "I like to be warm and toasty. I just shiver when I think about it. If only they had a quilt to wrap up in!"

Mennonites today not only make quilts but also spend a lot of time preparing simple, specialized supply kits, she said, such as school supplies for students or medical items for AIDS patients.

A table at the exhibit is full of brochures and information about these contemporary relief efforts.