Maddie Thums Memorial Month

The 12th annual Maddie Thums Memorial service project was held in March at the Colby Community Library. The project was hosted as a Sew-at-Home event by the Friends of the CCL.

Madelyne (Maddie) Thums of Curtiss was a registered nurse in the Birth Center at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield. When she retired, she began volunteering at the Colby Public Library. She passed in March of 2013, and the following year in March 2014, the first “Maddie Day” was held in her honor. Service-minded people, from Colby and the surrounding areas, gathered for a sew-a-thon to create items to donate to St. Joseph’s Hospital for the birth/neonatal center and pediatric department.

This year’s Maddie projects, to be donated to the Marshfield Medical Center (MMC) and Children’s Wisconsin Hospital of Milwaukee, included flannel ice bags covers, comfort casket covers, and burp cloth/blanket sets. As pictured above, Vicky Calmes, CCL director, and Meissa Darr, MMCMarshfield volunteer services coordinator show off some of the items sewn.

Thirty-four people assisted with the project, picking up take home bags filled with fabric and notions needed to complete the 256 items. At the end of March, 157 ice bag covers were sewn, 48 casket covers for MMC and 18 for Children’s Wisconsin were stitched, and 33 burp cloth/blanket sets were completed. The staff at the Marshfield Medical Center Volunteer Services received the donations.

Thrivent Action Teams, Friends of the CCL, and Creative Hideaway in Dorchester helped financially support the project. Ailene Loertscher assisted CCL Director Vicky Calmes in the planning and implementation of the Maddie Month 2025 service project.