HELPING OTHERS

By LISA L. BELL

Patience and giving nature stem from knitting

Many others benefit from this Boardman woman’s time and talent.

For Marlene Martin of Boardman, it is not about the skills, gifts or talent we’ve been given, but how we use them to help others.

Martin’s grandmother taught her to knit when she was at a young age.

It is quite evident that the time she spent with her grandmother when she would come to visit every summer also taught her to be patient and giving.

Over the years, as she practiced what she was taught, she continued to develop her skills.

By the time she reached college during the ’50s, knitting was a popular pastime among young women.

“All of the girls knit,” said Martin.

Although her schedule for nursing school at Capital University was quite demanding, she and a few close friends would spend time together knitting during their rotation, when classes were light.

Martin explained that every now and then she would knit an afghan, but she mostly enjoyed knitting argyle socks.

“They were a popular thing then,” she said. “It was about all I had time to do.”

She married her husband, Jerry, who taught physical education at Boardman High School for 41 years, and they had three sons, Matt, Joel and Neil.

Martin said that each time she was expecting a child, she would set to work knitting the tiny outfit that she would bring the newborn home in.

Now she knits for her grandchildren: fancy hats, gloves and scarves for the girls, and usually team hats and gloves for the boys, who are now 11 and 13.

“Now that they’re older, they like their sports hats,” she said. “It’s usually the Steelers and the Red Sox.”

Martin is a member of the Western Reserve Knitting Guild, for which she knits scarves for the Special Olympics and donates hand-knit hats to Caps for Kids.

These hats are all donated to the Mahoning and Columbiana Head Start Program.

“About 325 hats go out per year,” she said.

She also helps to knit tiny outfits for teddy bears for the Burden Bear Project through the Columbiana County Children Services and Child Advocacy Center in Youngstown.

Once a year, the guild members knit pink scarves for breast-cancer survivors.

Martin also knits helmet liners for soldiers in our armed services.

These liners are then donated to Knit-Wit Knits in Salem and sent out to soldiers.

“I have been doing that for about three years now,” she said.

Martin also makes one afghan a year for the Canfield Fair’s “The Fair That Cares” program, which provides warm blankets for the local rescue mission.

She also ties baptism quilts at Bethel Lutheran Church and works with other women of the congregation on sewing projects to raise money for the church, the Salvation Army and other women’s groups.

Martin has been a long-time participant in the prayer shawl group at Bethel, which provides prayers and hand-knit shawls to people who are ill.

“It’s easier for me, as a way to give, to just be able to sit and knit,” said Martin.

“It’s also my tranquilizer. … Whether I’m working on it or not, as long as it is sitting there.”