Owatonna woman makes eyeglass cases for hospital on Owatonna

OWATONNA — 2,416.

If that number doesn’t sound very high, try your hand at turning that many pieces of sewn fabric inside-out.

That is exactly what Arlene Smeby, a nonagenarian, has been doing since 2007. But she hasn’t been doing it alone. Instead, she has called on the help of her neighbors and friends, in order to turn thousands of swatches of sewn fabric into eyeglass cases for use at the Owatonna Hospital.

“I got the idea after my son-in-law had surgery in Phoenix,” said Smeby.

On Wednesday, Smeby pulled out the very eyeglass case that her son-in-law received after his surgery. She said she had already been sewing pillow cases to make pillows for children at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul — a bit of charity she said she started about 1999 — but she thought the local hospital could benefit from the cases, and gave that a try too.

“They seem to want them and need them,” said Smeby.

She said now a staff member from the surgery unit stops by Smeby’s house to pick up the eyeglass cases as soon as they are ready, often in batches of 200 at a time.

Though Smeby has done all of the sewing so far, purchasing the fabric and other raw materials herself, she calls on the help of dozens of retirees to finish the job. Smeby said she cuts the fabric, forming an assembly line style of swatches behind her sewing machine. Then she sews each swatch into the proper shape, and she invites dozens of people over every so often to turn out the eyeglass cases by hand. Then she loads the batches into her own dryer with a spritz of Lysol to sanitize them.

On Wednesday, many retired women gathered in Smeby’s home to help her with the next batch. Donna Herzog and Dee Appel came out for the occasion for the first time, and they said they were both amazed at the amount of work Smeby does.

“I’m glad I’m not on the machine,” said Herzog.

Lois Holzerland also joined the full living room of volunteers, though in her case, she had seen the cases in action.

“I had eye surgery at the hospital, and when I left, they gave me an eyeglass case,” said Lois Holzerland. “They’re soft, and it protects your eyeglasses in your purse. It was nice to know that my neighbor made them.”

Smeby was expecting to send off another shipment of the eyeglass cases on Wednesday, but she said the more than 2,000 cases that have already been made leave no indication that she may soon be slowing down.

“I don’t sit around and twiddle my thumbs,” said Smeby. “It keeps me busy.”

Melissa Kaelin can be reached at 444-2372.

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Member Opinions: By: smile on 11/4/09 Arlene is wonderful! Thank you for using your talents to help others. Thank you OPP for reporting a positive story. We need more!
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