Christmas on the river

In this season of giving and caring, people collect toys for children who would otherwise have none. Some gather food and feed the hungry. Others help to make the season meaningful for residents of nursing and veterans homes.

But a group of Cape Girardeau churches have an unusual ministry, dedicated to serving a group of individuals who are sometimes overlooked.

They send gift boxes to the men and women who work on the towboats that guide barges on the Mississippi River.

First Presbyterian, Westminster Presbyterian and First Baptist churches in Cape Girardeau, along with First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, have been collecting the items for the boxes.

On Dec. 1, a crew will gather at First Presbyterian in Cape Girardeau to pack the boxes, said Barbara Port, chairman of the church's mission department.

Volunteers will fill the boxes with a hand-knitted scarf, a bag of hard candy, a New Testament, a handmade Christmas card and several paperback books. The packages will be shipped to the Ministry on the River in Paducah, Ky. -- an affiliate of the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey -- to be given to crew members at Christmas.

Volunteers knit the scarves in a basic stitch with no fringe. The scarves are shorter in length than most regular-sized scarves, Port said.

The rivermen wrap them around their necks to protect them from the cold, wet winds on the river when they check the barge couplings during their work shift. They don't want long scarves or fringe that can get caught in the machinery.

"We have women who love to sit and knit," Port said. "They are so good that they can sometimes knit a scarf in two nights. Sometimes you think when you're retired you can't help anybody, but these women are knitting."

Members of the Boys and Girls Club make homemade cards for the boxes using donated used cards and construction paper. The children may never meet the men who get the cards, but there's still a connection.

On warm days, children in the Boys and Girls Club walk down to the river and wave at the boats that chug by with their barge tows. The men on the boat know these youths are the ones who made their Christmas cards.

"The kids get excited when they wave back," Port said. "It's teaching these kids to share, to think about somebody besides themselves."

And the rivermen love the personal touch. They post the cards on the bulletin boards. One river captain took a few down to post a message for his crew and nearly had a mutiny, Port said.

"They said, 'This is our board, and these are our cards. Leave them alone,'" she said.

Also in the boxes are lip balm and hand lotion. The churches used to pack homemade cookies but because of homeland security regulations, they had to start sending hard candy instead.

Several paperback books also go in the boxes, all of them donated by people in the community. In addition to a New Testament, the crew gets adventure books, mysteries, books about animals, novels and light reading. Crew members share the books with each other.

"We avoid books with excessive sex and violence, and no romance novels," Port said.

The river boat crew is like a close extended family, Port said. The cook is available to make snacks or meals whenever the men are hungry and often acts as a surrogate mother to them if they have problems.

In turn, the men do their share for the cook -- almost always a widow or older single woman -- and help her keep the kitchen clean and in good repair.

The crew generally has family on land -- and with improved communication, is never far away from them. It's true they could easily afford to buy the items they get in the Christmas boxes.

"We could buy the scarves or the cards, but that's not the point," Port said. "They know how important they are to the economy, but they don't think anybody on land appreciates them. This is one way of saying we know you are there and we do this to thank you for your good work."

The effect ripples like the wake of a boat. The boat crew benefits from the gesture, the Boys and Girls Club members know they have friends on the river, and the women who knit the scarves get a thank-you note for every bundle they bring in.

The crew thanks the churches through the Ministry on the River, and when they pass by the city they know they have friends there, although they seldom get to stop and visit the town.

Anyone who has used paperback books in good condition they want to donate to this effort may bring them to either one of the participating churches before Dec. 1.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160