It wasn’t a military campaign, but it was definitely a prolonged engagement, carefully timed and executed with (only slightly chaotic) precision.

Working for nearly a year, members of the Kingfisher American Legion Post No. 5 Auxiliary and a few generous friends completed 60 patriotic quilts that will be distributed to area veterans.

“It took a lot of help from a lot of women,” organizer Roxie Alexander said.

The project began two years ago with just one quilt, which was given away in a drawing at the anual Veteran’s Day breakfast.

The project was so well received, the women were asked to consider making smaller quilts to give away to World War II and Korean War veterans.

“Last year we did 36 and gave them all away to veterans of those wars,” Alexander said.

Again, the women were overwhelmed by the response.

“We got the most wonderful letters from those men,” Alexander said, noting that one came from a quadraplegic who was bed bound and dictated a moving thank-you note to his wife.

Those letters plus the extra time on their hands during the pandemic lockdown ignited a fire in local seamstresses this year.

“We had 36 World War II and Korean veterans on our list who still needed quilts, but we got those done and decided to start on the list of Vietnam veterans,” Alexander said.

“We were all stuck inside so we had plenty of time.”

Fortunately, the generosity of the women involved allowed the group to keep costs down for the massive project.

In addition to the volun teers who pieced and sewed each unique quilt top, three women donated extra time to complete the intricate quilting stitchwork – Donna McAskill, Dawn Reitz and Debbie Burge.

“They donated so much time to do that,” Alexander said.

Local resident JaneHightower sewed 18 of the quilts and Ann Kloeppel made seven more and did her own quilting.

Both longtime quilters, Hightower and Kloeppel also donated their fabric collections.

“Jane and Ann’s stashes of red, white and blue material were greatly diminished by the time we were done,” Alexander said.

Each quilt includes a personalized label sewn onto the back identifying the recipient as well as the quilters who made each piece and thanking the veteran for his service.

Members of the American Legion Post No. 5 Auxiliary met Wednesday at the legion building (the former police station) to box up each quilt, along with a personalized letter for each recipient.

About seven of the quilts were mailed to recipients who live out of town, several more were delivered by legion member Larry Talbott and the rest will be distributed at the breakfast on Thursday morning.

Alexander said she appreciates every woman who donates their time and effort to the project, but added that the focus needs to be on the veterans, who have given so much more in service to their country.

And she also reminds any Vietnam vet who did not receive a quilt this year that they are not forgotten.

“We have you on our list and once the holidays are over we will be back at it making quilts for next year.”