Quilts and Cars: Montgomery Busy Over the Weekend

MONTGOMERY, TX -- There were plenty of quilts, cars, and people hanging around Montgomery this past weekend, as residents and visitors had their choice to attend the ‘Montgomery Quilt Walk’ in Historic Montgomery, or the Montgomery Lake Conroe Centennial Lions Club ‘2nd Annual Lions Crusin’ Car Show in Walden. Both events were great successes, and showed that Montgomery is a great place for entertainment, whether it be dining, boating, music, veterans, history, resorting, quilts or cars; and its annual events like the quilt and car show that are the life’s blood of Montgomery and The Lake Creek Settlement.

Historic Montgomery was adorned with quilts all over and on both sides of Liberty Street, from Fernland Historical Park in the east to the Lutheran Church in the west, offering quilts lovers and visitors alike the opportunity to stroll around and enjoy the sites. Everywhere you looked quilts were hanging, showing the love, energy, time, and teamwork that goes into making the multi-layered textile, composed of several layers of fabric. Most quilts take a couple of dozen hours to complete, but sometimes, the most elaborate patterns take hundreds of hours, and years to finish.

HM has several shops dedicated to the craft, and offer enthusiasts the supplies and materials needed to create the beautiful works of art and comfort. There are also several Quilt Guilds in the area, of which the Montgomery Guild, the ‘Montgomery Lone Stars’ are very active, and gift quilts to Veterans and others on several occasions throughout the year.

The #MontgomeryQuiltWalk was put together by the City of Montgomery, Threaded Lines, and the Montgomery Quilt Company. Over its weekend run, thousands of quilters and non-crafters visited, flocking to see the displays of modern and hand-sewn quilts that showcase the charm of our little piece of The World. There were also vendors in select areas, with a quilt raffle, and demonstrations on quilting. And the weather played its part to sunny perfection and not being overly aggressive.

The Montgomery Lone Stars Quilt Guild also held a ‘Quilt of Valor’ presentation for deserving Veterans who served Our Country in Wartime and Peace. A Quilt of Valor is awarded to Veterans and sometimes active duty Service Members, who are nominated by members of the guild or public. The Quilt of Valor Foundation was started by Catherine Roberts, who lost her son in Iraq, and dreamt of a soldier hunched over his cot, needing to be comforted from his gut wrenching emotions. To her, ‘Quilts=Healing,’ and that’s the way the Montgomery Lone Stars guild feel as well.

“We have about 30 volunteers to help us make quilts, and over the last year, we have awarded about 100 quilts to deserving Veterans who have been honorably discharged,” said Diana Martinez, a group leader with the program. “It’s not a gift. It’s the largest non-military award that is given nationally to Our Veterans. And they are meant to be used. If it gets damaged, we will make immediate repairs.”

The Montgomery Lone Stars have delivered quilts all over the United States, with one quilt even going as far as Guam, being delivered over a Zoom call. Martinez noted that for those wishing to nominate a Veteran, they should go to the national Quilt of Valor website. So far the group has given almost 300 quilts to Veterans.

“I’ve been to a lot of places, and done a lot of things in my time,” said Daniell Poole, an Army officer for 29 years, who was one of the Veterans to receive a quilt. “And I think it is important to note that about 6% of the population have provided protection of the freedoms for the other 93% of the American population.”

While the quilters were doing their thing in HM, across the way in the Lake Creek Settlement, the Montgomery Lake Conroe Centennial Lions Club ‘2nd Annual Lions Crusin’ Car Show was being held at the Walden Country Club. The event started last year, with 20 cars taking advantage of the cooler weather that October offers. This year, there were nearly 40 cars that made the show, inviting residents of Walden and beyond to come and pay homage to the great automobile craftsmanship on display. Lions member Jan Jessen responded to the call for a fundraising event last year, and jumped into action. The monies raised go to support the organizations charities, such as the St. Jude’s Cancer Center, Texas Lions Camp, Crisis Assistance Center-Conroe, the New LEO Club (Lions related) at Lake Creek High School, and others.

“It is such a beautiful day, and we have so many gorgeous cars,” said Jan Jessen, organizer for the car show, and a Wisconsin transplant. “We are fortunate that everything came together so well, and the funds raised will be given to the people who really need it.”

From a late model Rolls Royce to a 1966 Dodge Coronet, and even one of Henry Ford’s early models, there were plenty of cars to see. The owners were happy to show off their horseless carriages, and answered many questions from car connoisseurs and novices alike. The LCHS LEO Club had a booth, and were showing off their Leadership, Experience, and Opportunity skills. They are Alpha members, which focuses on their social and individual development opportunities, and is so important for members between 12 and 18 years old.

“I really enjoyed the 2007 Porsche 911,” said Walden resident Bruce Reed, who was enjoying the car show. “I appreciate the Lions Club for their ingenuity to hold such a wonderful event on the lake.”

The Montgomery Lake Conroe Centennial Lions Club is relatively new, only being recently chartered, and is separate from the Montgomery Lions Club. Besides their own local concerns, Lions support global concerns in service areas such as: vision, hunger, the environment, childhood cancer and diabetes. The Texas Lions Camp is for children with physical disabilities, designed to introduce the "Can Do" philosophy to children dealing with special medical conditions. Besides the car show, the next event will be their ‘Texas Lions Camp Chili Cook-Off,’ sponsored by the MLCCLC, which will be on November 16th. Gates open at 11:30am at the Walden club.

For more information: montgomeryquiltwalk.com

Nominating Veterans & Service Members for a Quilt of Valor: QOVF.org

Search the Quilt of Valor Foundation for ‘Montgomery Lone Stars’ or input ‘83846’

Montgomery Lake Conroe Centennial Lions Club: facebook.com/LionsClubLakeConroeTX/