Tuesday afternoons at the Warren Senior Center are very special moments for a group of dedicated ladies who find it very interesting and stimulating knitting and crocheting a wide variety of hats, scarfs, lap robes and blankets for a very good cause.

According to Senior Center executive director Betty Hoague, these kindhearted souls meet each Tuesday afternoon to perform their needlework magic in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.

“These ladies really enjoy doing this each week knowing that many of these knitted items will benefit others,” she said. ”Our knitting/crocheting group works diligently throughout the year to keep our community warm in the winter. We are blessed to have such a wonderful group of ladies with such big hearts.”

Known as “Connie’s Kids,” in memory of the late Connie Vitullo, who helped start this program many years ago, these afternoon knitters now take their cue from Pat Thivierge, a local resident whose organizational skills have helped make this program a first-rate venture.

“I’ve been involved with this class right from the beginning,” she offered. “The classes were small then, but now we have quite a few ladies who take part every week.”

Once completed, all of the knitted hats are given away to places like Bradley Hospital, the Bristol Veterans Home, Crestwood Nursing Home, Grace Baker Nursing Home, Warren Head Start, and as far away as Providence, Pawtucket, New Hampshire, and even Alaska.

In addition to the hats, red, white and blue lap robes are presented to the veterans in Hospice care.

Added Susan Resare of Bristol, “I’ve been involved with this class for about three years now. I love this class. Socializing is important to me. I love being around people.”

“This year, we’ve given out 1,443 knitted pieces,” said Thivierge. “I’m very proud we give these out to people. They are so appreciative and happy to get them.”

Earlier this month, all of these knitted and crocheted items were given out, and as Pat Thivierge reiterated, “It was such a wonderful feeling to be able to do this for these people.”

If someone passed along a remark about this group being a close-knit family, they wouldn’t be far-off!