District kindergarteners were treated to special handmade scarves for the upcoming winter season, an annual special treat and gift from New Windsor resident "Grandma" Phyllis Scherf, who has been making one-of-a-kind scarves for these little students since 2008.
Her kindergarten scarf-making began when, during a 2008 Thanksgiving family gathering, her grand-niece admired the handmade scarf she wore to her niece’s home.
“I like your scarf, can you make me one?” the grand-niece asked, who was an Otisville Elementary kindergartener at the time.
When she returned to school the following week, Mrs. Scherf, who now is nearing 90-years-old, received a telephone call from her grand-niece: “My new friend loves my scarf. Can you make her one?”
And later, after the two girls wore their scarves to school came another call: “Everybody in my class loves our scarves. Can you make them for everyone?”
And thus, after those 22 students were gifted scarves, the tradition of making them for all Otisville kindergarteners was born.
The tradition expanded to the Elementary School in 2013 after Mrs. Scherf made a call to former Principal Colleen Fitzgerald, who was thrilled to accept Mrs. Scherf’s kind gesture.
Fortunately, Mrs. Scherf has a bountiful supply of scarf material, which began when a friend encouraged her to take the unused scraps of fabric she used to make jackets for retired greyhound dogs. There were untold bags of scraps featuring all kinds of prints suitable for little girls and boys. That led to Mrs. Scherf acquiring unwanted yarn and tissue paper, so every scarf is individually gift wrapped…red paper for girls and blue paper for boys.
For this scarf season, Mrs. Scherf estimated she’s spent 1,000 hours making her gifts, taking her scarf work wherever she goes, including to places like the car dealership where her car is serviced. She’s known to gift children with a scarf on-the-spot, and was thrilled to visit a classroom on Nov. 18 to present her scarves and watch the expressions on the faces of the kindergarteners opening their unexpected gifts.
“I hope you all enjoy them, keep warm and wear them in good health,” she told students, as she happily watched the little students gleefully open up their packages, wrap the scarves around their necks and later personally shake her hand to say thank you.
And to the adults in the room, she added: “Don’t worry, I’ve got them covered.”