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September 17, 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTSCOMMENTARY: GRIEF, DETERMINATIONNOTE: The subject of this issue of Creative Leisure News is the tragedies in New York and Washington and the industry's reaction to them. We deeply appreciate the fact that so many of you, from around the world, have shared your thoughts and feelings with us. You are using CLN as a community center where we can come together as an industry and as the family that we are.I sit at my computer, trying to write this issue, and all the craft "news" seems so inconsequential. I've been writing for more than two decades, and words fail me. I find myself drawn to the words of E.B. White, a former editor of the New Yorker. In 1963 he wrote a piece about the assassination of John F. Kennedy when the nation was in shock as it is now. The deadlines were such that he probably had about a half-hour to write it; furthermore, in those pre-computer days, the staff probably ripped out a short piece to be replaced by White's writing that had to fit the empty space. So he had almost no time, and only one paragraph, to sum up the country's feelings. This is what he wrote about JFK: "When we think of him, he is without a hat, standing in the wind and the weather. He was impatient of topcoats and hats, preferring to be exposed, and he was young enough and tough enough to confront and to enjoy the cold and the wind of these times, whether the winds of nature or the winds of political circumstance and national danger. He died of exposure, but in a way that he would have settled for -- in the line of duty, and with his friends and enemies all around, supporting him and shooting at him. It can be said of him, as of few men in a like position, that he did not fear the weather, and did not trim his sails, but instead challenged the wind itself, to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people." Like Kennedy, the New Yorkers we know are tough enough, and will not trim their sails. Neither will the United States. (Note: This quotation is from E.B. White: Writings From The New Yorker 1925-1976, published by Harper Collins in -- where else? -- New York.)
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A PLEA FROM THE RUBBLEPat Probert, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Beverly Decor International, a Toronto-based stencil manufacturer, was asleep at 10:45 pm last Wednesday when he was awakened by his pager.The caller said, "We are stuck in the rubble ... I'm ...we're still alive ... There's no ..." and the call went dead. The caller had apparently dialed Pat's number by mistake. Pat contacted the police who forwarded the tape to the FBI. Efforts failed to pinpoint the exact location of the caller, and to learn whom the caller might have intended to call. Later Pat was interviewed by more than 100 news organizations, and tv networks broadcast interviews with Pat in Canada, the U.S., and around the world. New York stations played the tape over the air numerous times, hoping to find someone who recognized the voice. Pat said he hadn't gotten any work done this week, "but if we can help someone, it's worth it." And as Pat was talking to us on Friday afternoon, he received a call from someone claiming to have recognized the voice.
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UPDATES ON INDUSTRY EVENTSA decision on whether to hold or postpone the New York City version of the Craft Yarn Council of America's Knit-Out & Crochet 2001 this Sunday will be made today, and the decision will be posted by tomorrow on the website at knit-out.com and at the CYCA's site at craftyarncouncil.com.The Washington, D.C. group planning to conduct the Washington version of the Knit-Out on the National Mall is still in discussions with the local parks department. The Los Angeles Knit-Out WILL be September 30, as will others around the country. The New York event was scheduled to be held in Union Square Park on New York's East Side. (As we write this, Union Square is the scene of a make-shift memorial for the victims.) During the week of September 23-30th, Michaels stores are sponsoring various Knit-Out & Crochet events, including free How to Knit and How to Crochet instruction sheets, patterns to knit or crochet a cell phone holder, a kids' make-it/take-it, an instructor to teach beginners, and info about how consumers can help the Warm Up America! and Blankets for Canada programs. HIA's plans for its Celebrate the Season promotion September 29 are continuing. Officials suggest that retailers conducting classes, demos, or make-it/take-its as part of the promotion should include a collection for the American Red Cross. Other efforts are in the works to turn our industry's thoughts into concrete assistance to help the victims. We will report the specifics when they become known.
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MESSAGES FROM THE WAR ZONE (NEW YORK)CLN and CNA emailed numerous people with industry connections who live and/or work in/near Manhattan. Some, we hope, were safe at home and did not see our message. In some cases, phone calls and faxes could not get through. Here are responses from others:From Wolfie Rauner, an independent manufacturer's rep: "Thanks for your message of concern. Although most of us are still numb from the shock, thank god my family and I are safe. It seems everyone here knows someone who worked in those buildings. We are just waiting for the awful news. We are all praying for the families and our country. We are all one family at a time like this." From Michelle Temares, a designer, author, and writer for CNA: "I am trying my best to get to some sense of normalcy (e.g. making calls). I was in WTC seconds before the 1993 bombing (that's some story); it's a horrible deja vu. "I am only about 25 miles from Manhattan. Starting from the day after the bombing, the fall-out could be seen, smelled, and tasted here on Long Island. I found it very difficult to breathe and, up until the rain today, there was a gray haze hanging below God's beautiful blue sky. Who knows what we are all breathing in. The newspaper has advised everyone to stay indoors as much as possible. "New Yorkers have been terrific. There are too many volunteers for everything. No one is price gouging. The gas price on my corner is the same as it was last week. And no one is panicked (e.g, runs on food, etc.). "But the sadness, as everywhere, is palpable. The stores empty. Faces vacant. I have this terrible fear that this is the calm before another storm, like Vienna or Berlin right before WWII. "Today the Taliban announced that if we retaliate, they will retaliate worse. My friends with draft age sons are terrified; some of them lost brothers in Vietnam. "Meanwhile, my husband, Mark, was on a plane headed to DC when the first plane hit WTC. He did land safely but was out of contact for some time and I could not track him down. It seems that in the confusion, the rental car agency never checked in the prior renter so there was no record of him renting a car. A very scary day. "There are many in my church and others who have lost spouses, children, parents. One Catholic parish has 20 unaccounted for and probably dead. I could go on, but what's the point?" From Joan Campbell, Executive Director of the Home Sewing Association: "We're all fine. I'm in the office today [Wednesday] -- at least this morning; then I'm going to go give blood. I told my staff not to bother [coming to work]. They all live outside of Manhattan and it took them up to 6 hours to get home yesterday since the bridges and tunnels were closed. I live only a 30-minute walk from the office. "It was very surreal yesterday. One of my staff members came racing in at about 8:50 am and yelled that she just heard a plane go into a building in lower Manhattan. From our office we could see the north tower on fire. Then we turned on the radio to listen to events unfold. "When we heard the south tower had gone down, we were sick. Then I turned around to take a phone call and by the time I looked again, the north tower was gone. This morning when I rounded the corner of 6th Avenue, there was a big gaping hole where the towers used to be easily visible. It was like getting a kick in the stomach. "It's quiet here in mid-town today. Little traffic, few delis open, and no street vendors. The look on the faces of my fellow New Yorkers can be described as disbelief and anguish. "But, so far as we know, everyone we know is ok. The local reports are that they need blood donors, not just here, but everywhere, since they will be bringing supplies in from around the country. And, not just now; they are particularly concerned that in a couple weeks people will not see the urgency. So, if you can encourage your readers to give blood, that would probably be the most useful. The other thing that is needed is cash donations to the Red Cross. These can be made at redcross.org or by calling 800-HELP NOW." From Jeff Horner, an ad agency exec and recent New York resident: "People I know are fine, but all of them have lost someone they know. My nephew works four blocks from the WTC. He was stuck in his office because they couldn't see because of the smoke. They had to turn off the air conditioning so the smoke wouldn't get into the building. Then they had to walk through it to get home. He lives in Brooklyn and it took him 3 hours to walk home. Brooklyn today [Wednesday] is covered with smoke because it is east of the WTC. "My other nephew was on his way to work on Wall Street and was caught in the subway filled with smoke. He walked out of the station and went home." From Gail Hamilton of McCall Pattern: "We are fine. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Other than transportation problems and no mail delivery, we are operating -- business as usual. We actually saw the accident happen from our building yesterday. Many of our sales staff were at Hancock and unable to return to work or their homes due to the airports not operating." From Karen Ancona, editor of CNA, about one of her writers, Beth Mauro: "Beth, separated from her husband who works in the financial district, and unaware of the fate of her brother-in-law who works in one of the WTC buildings (this, 9 hours after the attack) chose not to pace anxiously in her apartment. She inched her way (roads were clogged) to her local American Red Cross headquarters and answered phones until 4 am. By noon the next day her husband was home, she was back at work on CNA, while they both wait for news about the brother-in-law and friends." (Note: Beth's brother-in-law was later found safe.) From Dan Sadur of Aldastar: "I'm pretty shell-shocked. Two folks from my neighborhood are among the missing. Got home Tuesday by going 80 miles out of the way. Still can't wrap my mind around this yet." From Erik Mandleberg of NSI: "NSI [the Bedazzler company] does have a showroom and offices in NYC, but are uptown and all is safe. Ironically, we were there that day with a customer for Pre-Toy Fair week. At [the home office on] Long Island, we are literally crippled and business has been paralyzed since the tragedy Tuesday -- no phone or fax, no email (only one computer we all share), no EDI. Most importantly, all of our families and friends at NSI are safe." (Note: we assume by now the phones are working again.) From Chris Holmes of CM Communications: "Luckily, our families seem to all be OK, thank heaven. I think everyone is just stunned at this point, trying to absorb the enormity of this situation -- and the reality that there may still be 10,000 or more people who may have perished and are lying in the rubble. A horrific thought." From Barbara Briskin: "I don't think I will ever get over the way everyone, even those we don't know, have reached out. I am blessed that my friends and family are all safe and sound, and pray for those who are suffering... There is so much suffering. "I think I speak for all New Yorkers when I say that I am so touched by the kindness that both friends and strangers have shown us these last few terrible days." From David Blumenthal of Lion Brand Yarn: "All of our immediate family, as well as our extended family and Lion Brand associates, are o.k. Needless to say, the anxiety level with sirens and bomb scares, as well as travel difficulties, is a whole other issue." From Barbara Wallach: "We here at Halcraft are all O.K., but shaken and nervous about where these horrible acts are going to take this city, our country, and the world. Our prayers and thoughts are now with those who are still missing among the nightmare tangle that was the World Trade Center, and, of course, their loved ones. "We have been working through this whole incident, in part because our employees mostly live very near the office, and also because they are good troopers! We are around 40 blocks north of what was the Financial District, and although several people here saw parts of the abominable terrorist actions, no one was injured in any way, other than mentally and emotionally, as I think everyone in the world is right now to varying degrees." "From Veronica Towey, posted on the MacPherson's Intranet Retailer Forum: We at FM Brush sat in our office and watched in horror and disbelief as cowards attacked our country. We waited throughout the day for word of family and friends. We still wait, we still hope. "Our phone and e-mail has been sporadic at best, yet this morning I logged on to find 68 emails of support from colleagues. I can't even begin to tell you just how much that means to us. What a wonderful industry we work in.... With your support I can continue to hope for miracles."
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MESSAGES FROM AROUND THE INDUSTRYLike most Americans, craft industry people are at a loss for words. Messages came to us from all over, often with articles that gave voice to the senders' feelings. Here are some excerpts:From CNA's Karen Ancona, an article by a Leonard Pitts, a columnist for the Miami Herald: [An excerpt] "Still, I keep wondering what it was you [terrorists] hoped to teach us. It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're about. You don't know what you just started. But you're about to learn." From Jackie George's father, a retired officer in the Canadian Air Force, who sent her the transcript of "Tribute To The United States" by Gordon Sinclair, a Toronto tv commentator: [An excerpt] "I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help, even during the San Francisco earthquake. "Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high." (Note: We've received Sinclair's commentary from five subscribers thus far.) From Steve Perl of Art Wire Works, who forwarded an article by Clyde Haberman in the New York Times: [An excerpt] "DO you get it now? It is a question that many Israelis wanted to ask yesterday of America and the rest of the finger-pointing world. Not in a smart-alecky manner. Not to say, We told you so.' It was simply a question for those who, at a safe remove from the terrorism that Israelis face every day, have damned Israel for taking admittedly harsh measures to keep its citizens alive.... "In Israel, there is no such thing as six degrees of separation .... two degrees is more like it. If you don't know a bombing victim personally, you almost surely know someone who does. You may safely bet that an extraordinary number of New Yorkers will have the same relationship to someone whose life was cruelly extinguished yesterday in Lower Manhattan. " It's all very personal there, and now it's all very personal here,' said David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee. More clearly than ever, Americans now understand that they may not assume any public place is safe. Same as in Jerusalem." (Note: We received this column twice.) From C Boyd, a manufacturer's rep, who emailed this "Open Letter To a Terrorist". The author is unknown. [Excerpts] "Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You hit the Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American bodies to take out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman, you STILL missed America. "Why? Because ... America isn't about a building or two. America is about an IDEA. An idea that you can go someplace where you can earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part like you envisioned living, and pursue Happiness. "Go ahead and whine your terrorist whine, and chant your terrorist litany: If you can not see my point, then feel my pain.' This concept is alien to Americans. We live in a country where we don't have to see your point, but you're free to have one. We don't have to listen to your speech, but you're free to say one. "Don't know where you got the strange idea that everyone has to agree with you. We don't agree with each other in this country, almost as a matter of pride. We're a collection of guys that don't agree, called States. We united our individual states to protect ourselves from tyranny in the world. That's another idea we made up on the spot. You CAN make it up as you go, when it's your country. If you're free enough. "You guys seem to be incapable of understanding that we don't live in America, America lives in US! American Spirit is what it's called. And killing a few thousand of us, or a few million of us, won't change it."
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JO-ANN'S RIBBON GIVEAWAYLast weekend, Jo-Ann's gave away red-white-and-blue ribbons at all of its 990 stores, plus instructions for crafting a unity lapel pin and bracelet. Instructions are available at joann.com."We've all been devastated by the recent attacks on our country," said CEO/President Alan Rosskamm. "And we, like many others, feel compelled to do something to try to lift the spirit of the American people. "In the wake of the tragedy, we asked ourselves what we could do," said Rosskamm. "We looked at a lot of options, and the ribbons seemed to make the most sense for us. Our hope is that we can, in some small way, help people express what they feel in their hearts." Jo-Ann's also made the instructions available to HIA, which distributed them via email to HIA members.
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RANDOM NOTES, RANDOM THOUGHTS1. For years I've carried a pocketknife in my briefcase to cut open boxes at trade shows. I won't carry it anymore. Before you travel, check for knives, scissors, even nail files.2. Some industry magazines may be late because the grounding of the airlines has slowed the delivery of ad material to publishers. Regular mail will be slower, too, because of the new airline restrictions. 3. The temporary cessation of air travel stranded some industry members who were in Chicago for HIA committee meetings. But it was worth it; because of Exec. Dir. Pat Koziol's meetings in Chicago, her husband was not in his office in the World Trade Center. 4. Kmart reported selling 88,000 U.S. flags the day the terrorists attacked. Wal-Mart also reported a surge in sales of flags and ribbons ... Wal-Mart donated $1 million to the Red Cross, opened 3,000+ facilities across the U.S. for blood drives and monetary donations, and pledged another $1 million in the near future for other agencies providing relief efforts. 5. MakingFriends.com, a kid's craft site, is enabling kids to download patterns, make paper dolls and messages, and send them to kids connected to the disaster. "Here, on Long Island," the site says, "many of our friends and family have been personally touched by the attack on the World Trade Center. Many of them are children who have lost parents or they have parents participating in the rescue effort. Either way, they are children in crises. "That's why we at MakingFriends.com have set up a program that is appropriate for even very young children to lend their support. Help your children, class, troop, or group make patriotic paper doll Friends'. Have children attach a message along with their first name, age, and city. Send the paper "Friends" to us and we will distribute them to schools, firehouses and hospitals throughout the metropolitan area." 6. We received a dozen emails asking us to stand outside our house with a candle last Friday evening. We hope you participated. We also received about 10 emails of a supposed prophesy of Nostradamus about this being the beginning of World War III. 7. We've heard unconfirmed reports that buyers at a number of U.S. chains have canceled trips to the Orient next month. We've also heard, unconfirmed, that seven buyers for the T.J. Maxx chain were killed in the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania. 8. Here's an example of how small the world has become. After Pat Probert's story ("A Plea from the Rubble," above) was broadcast around the world, he received a call from an old friend whom Pat thought had died. The friend, married with two kids, saw Pat on tv -- in Africa. 9. Here is a prayer for the United States: http://www.myfree.com/prayerh.html.
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MESSAGES FROM AROUND THE WORLDNotes of concern and sympathy are pouring in from around the world:1. We received this email from a subscriber in Malaysia: "To all our friends in America, no words of comfort can console the feelings of every American worldwide. All of us express our heartfelt sadness after hearing the devastating news on the terrorists' attack on America. Our Prayers are with you all." -- Barutan Embroidery Centre/Patchwork Corp. 2. This was received by Floracraft, from a customer in the Netherlands: "Dear friends and fellow Americans, we all want to express our deepest condolences with the loss of so many of your people due to this horror act by terrorist against the United States and our Democratic world. As you will understand, we can't find words to explain our feelings and emotions about this tragedy but we want you to know that we, the Dutch people, are 200% behind you. We all hope that you can find the strength to keep going forward and we all fight this terrorism together, whatever it takes." -- Ben Feenstra 3. Floracraft also received a note from well known industry veteran Geoff Heskith, a manufacturer's rep in Australia: "Just wanted to let you know that all Australia is shocked and horrified at the atrocities of the attacks on the U.S. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all."
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REMINDERS1. If you want a hard-copy of this issue, click on "Printer Friendly version".2. If your company is a paid subscriber, everyone in the main office is welcome to register, free. 3. Creative Leisure News is published on the first and third Mondays of each month. Your next issue will be Monday, October 1st. We pray by then we'll be back to reporting "regular" news.
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