Kathy Brown is president of the Shawano Area Quilters.
She was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, graduating from Vermillion High School. She attended the University of South Dakota, but then met her husband of 50 years, Bert, and worked as a secretary in a bank to put him through school. They moved to Madison, South Dakota, where Brown had her own radio show while her husband taught school. When he went to grad school, she worked as secretary to the dean at Northwest Missouri State in Maryville.
They moved to Racine, where she worked in marketing at J.I. Case Company for 13 years while Bert taught at Park High School. Then they moved to Legend Lake when for 17 years. Bert, who is now retired, had Bert’s Place in Shawano. Kathy drove back and forth to Green Bay for her own insurance agency for 24 years. She retired four and a half years ago.
They have two sons and six grandchildren.
Brown also enjoys a stained glass class where she has met many other quilters.
Q How did you become a part of the Shawano Area Quilters?
A “I joined when I retired in 2010. A friend of mine started it. I’ve been quilting for a long time, but I didn’t have time to join the club. We have over 60 members. We have such a good group. I’ve been president since 2012. This is my second term.”
Q What are your duties?
A “I pretty much oversee everything. We do a lot of different things. We do comfort quilts for fire victims and baby quilts for at-risk babies. We make quilts to donate for breast cancer research. We sent a bunch of quilts to Oklahoma when they had a tornado. Some will be sent to other parts of the country. We make pillow cases for Safe Haven. We make little dresses out of pillow cases that are sent to Africa. I’ve seen some of those dresses on TV. There’s a million different causes you could choose but we primarily do things for the local area. I have sent quilts to injured service people.”
Q How do you earn money for your projects?
A “Our quilt show is our main means of money making and there are dues. The next show is October of 2015. We make a raffle quilt for it. Right now our main mission for this year is to get a handle on our quilt racks. They are heavy and cumbersome. We got a couple prototypes to buy that are lightweight. We meet twice a month at the Civic Center at 1 p.m. on the first and third Thursday.”
Q Why do you volunteer?
A “The quilters are such wonderful gals and I’ve made so many friends. Sewing is my life. I taught myself how to sew when I was 22, and I never quit. When I worked, I sewed tons of clothes for myself. ”
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