During the coronavirus pandemic lock-down last year, Rita Barton made a lot of baskets.
“This was my COVID project,” said Barton, of the Village of Woodbury.
To commemorate the event, her sister suggested that Barton should sign them “COVID 2020.”
“We have a lot of baskets,” group leader Barb Roberts said. “We had a lot of time on our hands.”
When the leisure facilities closed at the end of March 2020, Roberts carried a lot of the basket-making materials home with her, permitting members to come in and grab anything they required for their endeavors.
Around June 2020, the group reconvened.
“It seemed like it was longer than that,” Roberts said.
Roberts has been creating baskets for nearly 14 years, since the club’s inception. She learned how to weave baskets from books and the internet.
“We get a lot of ideas from each other,” said Roberts, of the Village of Lynnhaven. “It’s a nice group of girls. To me, (basket-weaving) is relaxing. You start off with a pile of reeds and end up with a basket.”
Roberts has a preference for medium- to large-scale baskets, many of which have wood bases or clay bottoms on the inside.
“It’s a good feeling (when someone buys one of my baskets),” Roberts said. “I do tell them to give (the baskets) a good home.”
While living in North Carolina, she has been weaving baskets for many years. Barton returned to the passion after a few years away and after relocating to The Villages.
“I was relieved I can still do this,” Barton said. “We’ve become very close (in the group), and we share different things about (how to make) the baskets.”
“They’re very handy,” Char Hack said. “It makes you feel good (when someone buys one of your baskets). Especially when they go, ‘Oh, I like that one. ‘”
Hack has been returning to the group for almost four years, and she has been making baskets during that period.
“Barb is such a wonderful person to help you through,” the Village of Belle Aire resident said. “I saw some baskets and loved them. I thought, ‘I want to try that.’ They’re the nice people. If you have a question, they’re open to sharing.”
– Attributed Source, The Villages Daily Sun