Members of The Allegheny Crafters, founded three years ago, meet new people and learn new skills through crafting.

By Haley McMonagle

Photo by Lauren Stauffer

Every Saturday at 10 a.m., a group of dedicated crafters comes together in pursuit of their passion at the Allegheny Senior Living Apartments. The group, called The Allegheny Crafters, was founded by Ruth Ward three years ago.

“We gather together to knit, crochet, or do whatever craft the person can do,” said Ward.
The group uses crafts as a means to meet new people and learn new skills. The schedule of the group varies with the needs of its members.

“It’s a social within crafting,” said Mary Dukiss, a member of the group for the last year and a half. “Truly, crafting is an outlet for us,” she said. “When somebody needs to learn how to knit, then we are teaching them that, or learn how to quilt. Ruth is a renowned quilter.”

A year ago, The Allegheny Crafters hosted their first craft fair. They had another one on Oct. 5. The event had many sponsors who donated raffle baskets and food and the proceeds went into sponsoring the group as well as putting funds back into the community. With the success of the latest fair, the group hopes to plan a fun outing.

“We were hoping to plan an outing with the proceeds,” said Ward. “We could go somewhere together and just enjoy each other’s company.” The group also enjoys donating for food, whether it be for group dinners in their own apartments or outside in the community.

“The money we do make, we donate part of it to the local food bank on the Northside,” said Dukiss. “We also have dinners. People are welcome to come to it from the neighborhood and the money we make does supplement part of it. We mostly put the money back into the local Northside community.”

The dinners are held at the apartments, located at 401 W. Commons, for anyone to attend every other month. The next dinner hosted by the Allegheny Crafters will be in November.