Genesee Valley QuiltFest being held at RIT
Quilt of Valor honors veteran, Kyle Campion, and GVQC member and restauranteur, Elsie Cond
The Genesee Valley Quilt Club (GVQC), in collaboration with the Finger Lakes Chapter of Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF), will pay tribute to local a veteran and GVQC member Elsie Cond at an awards ceremony on May 19 at 6:30 p.m. The ceremony is part of GVQC’s QuiltFest, being held at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Gordon Field House from May 20 to May 22. QuiltFest features thousands of quilts representing all styles and genres of quilting as well as quilt-related vendors, lectures, and workshops.
The 85-year-old GVQC, one of the nation’s oldest quilt guilds, is guided by the motto “Helping One Another.” Each year, through its Love and Comfort Quilt Project (LAQC), club members make quilts and donate them to local charitable organizations whose primary focus is helping those in need. In a typical year, LAQC collects and distributes about 350 quilts, valued at over $40,000. The largest number of quilts ever turned in at a single meeting was 157 quilts on September 12, 2019.
This year’s QuiltFest awards ceremony pays tribute to GVQC member and restaurateur Elsie Cond. “She wanted to share her love of quilting with others,” says Vickie Despot, daughter and owner of Slayton Place Restaurant in Spencerport. Over the years, many of Elsie’s employees have received one of her handmade quilts.
In her last year of life, she was working on a quilt for Kyle Campion, an employee who had served in Iraq. Kyle joined Army National Guard in 2006 and served for six years. In 2009-10 he volunteered for a tour of duty in Iraq. While he was in Iraq, Kyle was promoted to sergeant. Elsie passed before the quilt was finished. Knowing the value and impact of Elsie’s quilts on veterans and in the spirit of “Help One Another,” GVQC member, Wilma Knox, picked up where Elsie left off and finished the quilt.
According to Barb Frost, Fingerlakes Quilts of Valor Chapter leader, “Quilts of Valor awards quilts of thanks and comfort to U.S. Military touched by war, active, reserve, or retired. As of this writing, QOVF has awarded 300,677 quilts as a gesture of our appreciation for the freedom we enjoy and the sacrifices made. Our motto is Quilts = Healing.”
The Elsie Cond Quilt of Valor quilt will be awarded to Kyle Campion by QOVF at the 2022 QuiltFest awards ceremony. QOVF will be a recipient of a portion of the funds raised by QuiltFest’s 2022 raffle quilt.
The GVQC QuiltFest runs May 20 through 22. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. The RIT Gordon Field House offers easy access with handicapped parking.
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