Marcella Mazur molded a lake cottage out of clay that included a set of stern eyes that her children will remember from the glares she gave them in church when they didn't behave. Her husband, Mick, a collector of miniature clown faces all of his life, made a larger clay version.
Over at the next table, Carl Mathern, 94, sculpted a corn cob on a stalk with a tractor sitting on top. He talked about how he and his five brothers survived the Depression in northwest Iowa when market prices crumbled to dust.
"No money, but we saved our farm by working together," he said.
These folks were among dozens of residents at Oak Meadows Senior Living in Oakdale who participated in a three-day arts camp last week to preserve their richest memories in clay. Their creations, in shapes and letters, represented fond relationships, extraordinary achievements, even hobbies that kept them happy and preoccupied in their younger years.
"They have something visual right in front of them," said artist Anne Krocak. "There's a tremendous amount of pride. There's so much joy that's shared, and community in sharing together."
Shirley Grabowski made a house -- she has six children -- with an airplane flying over it. During World War II she drove rivets for 10 hours straight at the North American Aviation defense plant in Kansas City. She and a partner assembled "vertical tail stabilizers" for B-25 bombers, known as "Billy Mitchells," that flew missions over Japan and Germany. They drove 940 rivets on each tail piece, nine sections a day, often six days a week.
"It was hard work. We had callouses you couldn't believe," Grabowski said. Then she smiled as she tried to represent that memory with small pieces of clay: "It was easier riveting than it is to do this."
Across the table, Pearl Hughes was busy capturing her war memories, too. She belonged to the Women's Army Air Corps (WAAC) where she learned to teletype. Toward the end of the war the Army sent her to Paris. She married an Army medic, and under the rules of the day, had to leave the Army because of that.