OXNARD : Pupils Create Christmas Ornaments for Convalescents

Nine-year-old Vanessa Chester was so excited that she woke up at 6 a.m. Tuesday and couldn’t go back to sleep.

“It’s so much fun to give gifts that I just couldn’t wait to come to school today,” said Vanessa, a fourth-grader at Oxnard’s Bernice Curren School.

Vanessa was one of 35 students who on Tuesday played Santa as they delivered ornaments and cards they had made to patients at the Glenwood Convalescent Hospital in Oxnard.

The students, who spent two weeks making the gifts, walked from their classroom to the hospital, where they sang Christmas carols, recited poems and handed out colorful Christmas cards and ornaments to about 50 patients.

“This is the best gift the patients can get for Christmas,” said Anna Martinez, the hospital’s activity director. “It gives them a chance to remember their own childhood.”

Teacher Pat Barba said the class came up with the idea for the gifts after hearing about a group of youngsters cleaning up a beach; they decided that they too wanted to do something for the community.

Barba, who knew how to make ornaments, decided to make that the class project.

Within weeks, the classroom was cluttered with thread, needles, lace, fabric, pictures, glitter and strings, and students were told to be as creative as possible in making their ornaments.

The result included miniature Christmas trees, snowmen, reindeer, big and tiny Santas, and Christmas cards shaped like stars, cars and sleighs.

Lorraine Calzada got so involved in the project that she made more than 10 cards and 10 ornaments.

“I like sewing and I’ve been excited about making the ornaments for older people,” said Lorraine, who considers herself a sewing expert. “I made a blanket, two hats, and now I’m making two dolls to give my little sister for Christmas.”

But not everyone was delighted with the idea of sewing. For 9-year-old Bradley Boer, the task was hard and tedious.

“I never sewed before and I don’t want to do it again. I kept poking my finger,” Bradley said. “But it was okay to make the cards.”