Page 11 - Leisure Living Magazine Holiday 2018

Back To Our Community
A Volunteer For The Littlest Ones - Jan Lippus
By Elizabeth Roth, Feature Writer
Many volunteers work directly with both adults and children in our communities to help meet specific physical, mental or spiritual needs. Some volunteers work with the ill or even the dying. One special volunteer works behind the scenes to help grieving families who have lost a miscarried or stillborn baby. Jan Lippus, through the Firelands Center for Woman and Newborns at Firelands Regional Medical
Center in Sandusky, creates special “Angel Gowns” for deceased infants. These tiny
gowns are created from fabrics saved from grandma’s and used wedding dresses, christening gowns, and bridesmaids’ dress-
es. They are decorated with lace, ribbons, buttons and silk in many colors and sizes, though mostly very small sizes are needed.
Jan finds patterns on the internet and has
lots of different fabrics and notions in her
sewing center at home.
After the birth of the little one, each deceased baby is provided a beautiful or handsome Angel Gown and the baby is dressed and then nestled among soft blan- kets, stuffed animals, or other mementos.
“The museum curator approached me about the lighthouse,” Norgard said. “From there I wound up volunteering with the conservancy and met some good people. We work good together and everyone adds their own expertise to the proj- ect.”
He is a part of an awesome team. Together just two years, the conservancy has been able to restore the lighthouse and recently have added a boathouse nearby for visitors to tour, also.
“We have had some schools come in and tour the lighthouse and they seem to enjoy it,” Norgard said. “We are actively trying to get more schools involved and getting the younger generation more interested in relics of the past.
A photograph of the infant is then taken, offered to the parents, and kept on file. Parents may choose to view or not to view photos of their child. If they change their minds later, the Center pro- vides the photo from its file. Jan recently supplied the Center with ten Angel Gowns in the infant or newborn sizes that might be needed, so the supply is complete for now.
Jan has always sewn, in addition to her work with schools as a playground monitor and a bus driver. When she retired from her work in schools, she wanted to use her love of sewing in new ways.
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Angel Gowns created by Jan Lippus
“We want to keep the heritage of what made Port Clinton and the lake great,” he continued. “Maritime was a big thing in this area and we feel it is important that this generation of kids real- ize how it helped shape the area that surrounds them. A lot of people drive by or see lighthouses today and do not give a second thought as to how important they were to keep our sailors safe and make it possible to deliver goods, back when tech- nology was not readily available.”
For more information on visiting the Port Clinton Lighthouse, or if you would like to become a Keeper of the Port Clinton Lighthouse, reach them at 419.797.2504 or by email at contact@ portclintonlighthouse.org.