🪡🧵Creating a sense of community can be as simple (and intricate) as quilting. That’s seen at the Ozark County Historium, where quilters bring their workbags, sewing machines and supplies every other Friday. They make progress on their own projects alongside friends found through common interest, who serve as a resource for those just starting out. “Quilting offers something for everybody who loves to sew because you can hand quilt, you can piece, you can machine quilt, you can machine piece, you can do whatever you want,” says Janet Taber, who helps lead the Historium. Most of the original folks are still there, Taber says, and they’ve added others like Sheryl Kinsey. She started attending when searching for friends after moving to the Ozarks from Washington. “I thought, ‘I need to meet people,’ so my ears were open,” Kinsey says. “The gals were in here quilting and I lit up because I inherited two sewing machines and a serger and all kinds of quilting things. It’s like I connect with my mom when I sew.” She quickly joined the group, and now her daughter attends too. But the Historium — which holds funds with the Ozark County Community Foundation — is more than just a space for quilting. It’s a place where a sense of community, so important in rural areas, is created. The Historium hosts speakers, events and classes that highlight local culture. Volunteers assist visitors with local history and genealogy research. Those collective efforts remind that traditions don’t have to be “legacy” to be impactful. The Historium opened in 2011, and quilting began in 2017. Today, the Historium is a hub where friendships are found and fostered, and community is cultivated in an organic way. To build community, one simply needs to find common interest — and make the first stitch. (fb)

❤️🤍💙In observance of Memorial Day, our office will be closed Monday, May 26. We will resume normal business hours Tuesday, May 27 at 8 a.m. (fb)