Gil Clifton
When you visit the Creative Arts and Technology Center (CATC) building, you frequently see residents and visitors walking the hall. They are looking at the cabinets containing hundreds of beautiful items created by members of the various clubs for which the CATC building is their home. These items have been created by residents with various artistic skills, such as painting, woodworking, pottery, photography, glass working, and quilting. If you look closely at the displays, you will find that certain articles are available for purchase, but many of them are in the cabinets only for display. One important fact that is not highly publicized is that several of our clubs regularly donate many products. They donate to organizations serving the underprivileged population around us and the Support Our Troops organization. It would be impossible to list every donation from every club, but let us look at some recent donations made by our resident clubs.
The Material Girls provided the following: 200 Christmas stockings to needy children in special situations, large quilts for soldiers wounded in battle, quilts for children who have lost a family member in the military, and various baby items for expectant families at Sheppard Air Force Base.
Our Photography Club provides photographic services for our Robson Olympics, the Denton Freedom House Golf Tournament, various Support Our Troops events, our annual 4th of July Parade, Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies, and college and high school golf tournaments held on the Robson Ranch golf course.
The Woodshop carves out the following treasures for distribution: exquisite boxes for terminally ill children to collect their Beads of Courage, each bead received for daily treatments. They also send gifts to the Fort Worth Cook Children’s Hospital, wooden toys for the Denton County Day School, library drop boxes for the United Way, various donated gifts for local Girl and Boy Scouts, and yearly handmade items for the Support Our Troops Auction.
The Sassy Stampers provide greeting cards to Support Our Troops for various reasons. Through the years, they have given thousands of cards to Support Our Troops, including birthday, Christmas, and other holiday cards. The total number of cards donated since 2010 is nearing the 10,000-card mark!
The members of our clubs whose participation makes these donations need to be recognized and complimented for their talents and efforts to support others. They are a good example of what Robson Ranch is all about. And don’t forget, the next time you are passing the CATC building, please take a few minutes to go inside to view all the beautiful, individually created pieces on display.