By HELEN HANNAN Courier correspondent
December 15, 2006 11:01 pm
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BLAKESBURG — Showtime. Suddenly the fidgeting rows of youngsters were quiet at Blakesburg Elementary.
Oblivious of the dozens of cameras focused on him, Sawyer Deevers, 5, and his teacher, Lane Anthony, led the parade of dignitaries including Linda Dennis, publisher and founder of Connect and Join, her escorts, several members of the 224th Engineer Battalion Iowa National Guard, Commanding Sgt. Maj. Doyle Norris of Camp Dodge and Iowa’s first lady Christie Vilsack.
Dennis spoke briefly complimenting the children and their teachers for helping to build the World’s Largest Scrapbook, which is dedicated to America’s military.
Students from nearly 600 schools in 28 states have contributed more than 20,000 handmade scrapbook pages for the project.
But Sawyer’s efforts was one of the pages that stood out and Dennis wanted to visit Blakesburg.
“I was so impressed with Sawyer, his page really jumped out, because he created his scrapbook page in Braille. We have received more than 20,000 handmade scrapbook pages, each with a special message to American men and women troops. Sawyer is the only blind student who participated in the project by creating his page in Braille,” she said.
Dennis said there are “so many sight-impaired troops coming back.” She believes that Sawyer’s Braille message will help to encourage and inspire these soldiers. His message: “Thank you for keeping us safe.”
Dennis told her audience that she asked Sawyer to make some more pages to be given to Walter Reed Army Hospital and Bethesda Naval Hospital, before Christmas. He made the extra pages because he thinks it is fun and wanted to show his support for military members.
Dennis explained to the listening youngsters that all of the scrapbook pages are being scanned and digitized and will be archived at the Library of Congress.
All pages will be scanned with one exception — Sawyer’s contribution.
Because of the difficulty in scanning Braille, that page will be archived in print and presented to the “America Supports You Team” for their support and assistance with this project.
“You are all now a part of history. A CD with all your pictures and the original scrapbook will be in the National Library of Congress. And 100 years for now, the Blakesburg kids will be there,” Dennis said.
“Awesome,” whispered one little girl to another. Clearly, Dennis had the attention of nearly every child.
The scrapbook will be presented to a two-star general next week at the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas. From there the books will be sent to the troops overseas.
“Connect with the Troops” is a project created by Connect And Join. “We thought it was a creative way to involve students,” said Dennis.
“I didn’t know how the scrapbook project would work out,” she confessed. “I thought maybe a couple of hundred pages. Then they started coming in boxes. Then the post office called and said ‘come and get your mail.’ Then the envelope from Blakesburg.”
Originally the project was supposed to be a one-time project, but it has been so successful Connect And Join has decided to continue to collect pages and create scrapbooks for the troops.
Student enthusiasm carried over outside of school into the Christian Church-sponsored Kids Club. One afternoon, the group made Christmas cards for troops overseas and presented them to Dennis for distribution.
Hand lettered messages from the heart: “Thank you for all you do for us,” “Thank you for keeping us safe,” “You are my hero,” and many others along the same vein. Many signed love, and the child’s name.
Sawyer’s mother, Sonni Deevers, was “real surprised, kind of shocked.” His parents, learned “this was in the works about a week and a half ago. It just kept getting bigger and bigger, said Deevers. “It’s great for the school to be recognized this way.”
Lane Anthony has been working with Sawyer since he was six months old.
“He works great with him. They have a great relationship. He cleared his schedule so that he could be with Sawyer all day, “ Deevers said.
Blakesburg students also received new Blakesburg Elementary T-shirts — red for the girls, blue for the boys. Sgt. Major Norris also presented each youngster with a pencil, backpack clip and rubber band bracelet.
Sheryl Friedman was project coordinator and helped the Blakesburg student council with implementation.
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