Making a difference one necklace at a time
Thursday August 23, 2012 | By:Metro Source Staff | News
LANCASTER- When Pat Cruikshank of Alden began hand making her unique Memory Necklaces as a fund-raiser for Team Harris Hill and the Alzheimer’s Association’s Memory Walk, she never could have imagined they would become so popular.
Together, Cruikshank’s “manufacturing and marketing co-workers” Mary Walczak, Rose Gardner and Josie Adamo have made thousands of necklaces. Cruikshank herself has made more than 2,500 and counting. She makes at least two dozen a day just to keep up with demand. Using ladder ribbon that she orders over the Internet, Cruikshank has gotten the science of making the necklaces down to approximately 11 minutes from her original time frame of one per hour.
The idea came from a ribbon necklace that she purchased in North Carolina. She found the supplies she needed, ordered her first six balls of ribbon, and got to work.
“I gave them to my friends and family for gifts and they liked them so much they asked if they could buy some from me,” Cruikshank stated. “It took me about an hour to make one, but I sold them as soon as I made them. I decided that this would be a good fund-raiser for Team Harris Hill, in memory of my mother Ruth Pequignot, for the Memory Walk.”
The necklaces are being sold all around the area in restaurants, beauty shops, craft shows, parties, dentist offices, schools, at Harris Hill Nursing Facility and the Alzheimer’s Association. But it’s mostly Cruikshank’s friends, family and relatives of those with Alzheimer’s who love the necklaces and are as excited about selling them as she is about making them. Cruikshank has sent dozens to Florida, Georgia, and California for relatives to sell, and the waitresses in restaurants buy them right off her neck.
“Then I get calls that they want more,” she stated. “I enjoy seeing how much people love them. I never would have dreamed that my little necklaces could have gone so viral.”
If you are interested in purchasing a necklace, Pat can be reached at pcruikshank@ymail.com. They are also available at Harris Hill Nursing Facility, 2699 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville and the Alzheimer’s Association of WNY, 2805 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville.
Harris Hill Nursing Facility provides 24-hour skilled nursing care, post-hospital and outpatient rehabilitation, specialized memory care and respite/short-term care. For more information, visit www.mcguiregroup.com.
Together, Cruikshank’s “manufacturing and marketing co-workers” Mary Walczak, Rose Gardner and Josie Adamo have made thousands of necklaces. Cruikshank herself has made more than 2,500 and counting. She makes at least two dozen a day just to keep up with demand. Using ladder ribbon that she orders over the Internet, Cruikshank has gotten the science of making the necklaces down to approximately 11 minutes from her original time frame of one per hour.
The idea came from a ribbon necklace that she purchased in North Carolina. She found the supplies she needed, ordered her first six balls of ribbon, and got to work.
“I gave them to my friends and family for gifts and they liked them so much they asked if they could buy some from me,” Cruikshank stated. “It took me about an hour to make one, but I sold them as soon as I made them. I decided that this would be a good fund-raiser for Team Harris Hill, in memory of my mother Ruth Pequignot, for the Memory Walk.”
The necklaces are being sold all around the area in restaurants, beauty shops, craft shows, parties, dentist offices, schools, at Harris Hill Nursing Facility and the Alzheimer’s Association. But it’s mostly Cruikshank’s friends, family and relatives of those with Alzheimer’s who love the necklaces and are as excited about selling them as she is about making them. Cruikshank has sent dozens to Florida, Georgia, and California for relatives to sell, and the waitresses in restaurants buy them right off her neck.
“Then I get calls that they want more,” she stated. “I enjoy seeing how much people love them. I never would have dreamed that my little necklaces could have gone so viral.”
If you are interested in purchasing a necklace, Pat can be reached at pcruikshank@ymail.com. They are also available at Harris Hill Nursing Facility, 2699 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville and the Alzheimer’s Association of WNY, 2805 Wehrle Drive, Williamsville.
Harris Hill Nursing Facility provides 24-hour skilled nursing care, post-hospital and outpatient rehabilitation, specialized memory care and respite/short-term care. For more information, visit www.mcguiregroup.com.
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