Woman uses talent to create gifts for newborns

New babies born during the month of December at Rutherford Regional Medical Center received a handmade gift designed just for them.

Vickey Gendron, a volunteer at the hospital, recently crocheted Santa hats for the newborns. The idea for the project came when Birth Place Director Deana Greene received a sample of a newborn hat in the mail.

"The hat we got in the mail was similar to what we've always used on newborns, and I mentioned to the staff how nice it would be if we could find someone who could make Santa hats for the babies," Greene said.

A staff member saw Gendron crocheting as she volunteered at the reception desk and asked if she might be willing to create a sample hat.

"I've crocheted hats before, but not for a newborn," Gendron said. "My granddaughter had an American Girl doll, so I made one and tried it on it first."

The sample hat was a hit, and Gendron got to work making hats for the month - using red, green and white yarns.

"I looked online for patterns and then came up with one of my own," Gendron said. "I've been crocheting for 50 years, but always from patterns. Now that I'm retired, I'm experimenting. It's worked out well so far."

"Did you make this hat?" asked new mother Rachel Suttle, whose daughter Maisy wore a red hat. "Thank you so much - it's so pretty."

Seeing a newborn with a hat on makes Gendron smile, she said. Each hat took around two hours to make, and in all she made 55 Santa hats.

And she's not stopping with Santa hats. She and Greene have discussed making hats around various holidays.

"I've found one with bunny ears," Gendron said.

Gendron has been a volunteer with Rutherford Regional's Auxiliary since 2013.