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Show Most high school graduates store from friends and and family photographs congratulatory notes GateBut memories of senior of the their yearbook. pages among communiColotado School the western in ranching gtaduMf way on quilts they can use ty of Gateway are and inspiration with their lives, messages complete throughout them. from the friends who hand-se- w Women from Wayside Chapel, the rural town's only church, began in 1 979 high rhilgiadiMiip a quihtn he presented Ante, at brfw ly graduation the harrriamvarr ceremony. A pastnA wife first suggested the idea. This year; quilts were given to Gateway's two seniors, but graduates have numbered as many as 11. Regardless of the number; each quilt is a testament to the enduring cue cfa small community ofa few hundred people, Mine many residents trace family ties through multiple generations of cattle ranchers and uranium miners. Just one toad leads into Gateway: Colorado Highway 141, with two ed lanes twisting alongside a creek, through open range, past ranches, over the Dolores River; and between rodrodc canyon walk. But tnatqr roads lead ouc college, marriage, and construction wotk amoqg them. Wherever students go, Aggie Wateham, 70, a rancher who organises the quilting, believes the teenagers rue better far having grown up in a town small enough to allow each child the kind of personal recognition the quilts give. They get more of a community feeling, a sense of belonging," 4-says Wateham, who is also a longtime H leader and a former cook at Gateway School. n enrolled in kindergarten The school, with nearly 60 small has a school, through high campus that still retains die dosenero one-rooschool. of an Brandy Loptii imbfoidMd on Threads of inspiration for the Students select their fabrics in ono High School Memories by LAURENA MAYNE DAVIS Photos by Pago 4 American Profile Gretd Daugherty Preparation quilts starts early. the fall when they begin their senior year: Five yards of material and a sheet are cut and sewn to make 54 "friendship blocks, each queen-size- d 12 inches square. Seniors then send those blocks to family measuring RiKlr ww nd frimrk for rtvm tn wnbmiiW iWignc, The center square is reserved for a special Bible verse selected by the student. Wareham always embroiders that one herselfand puts it under an outline of the Wayside Chapel, which was built in 1953- After die Kitchen have had several months to embroider their squares, the newly decorated pieces of fabric are rounded up in the spring. Wateham sews or pieces squares together to fern die quilt top and attaches the batring (soft filling) and backing. Other women pitch in to tie the quilts sewing die three layers together with bits of yam. Thats the finishing touch. This year's graduates Nia Soane, 17, and Brandy Lopez, who turned 18 this week, are dose friends and participated in each others quilts. Lopes' quilt has a dark background punctuated with small. I I I a I |