Historic names quilt returns to Riverside

      When the Ladies Aid Society of Riverside's Methodist Church finished their quilt in 1930, they had a record of nearly the entire community.

      Done as a fund-raiser, the quilt contains 620 names, only 18 less than the 638 people who lived in Riverside at the time. At five cents per name, that raised $31. The finished quilt was raffled with chances selling for 10 cents each. There is no record of how many tickets were sold, but the winner was Charles Rath of Riverside, father of Ruby (Rath) Perezek of Lone Tree.

      Her mother, Clara Rath, was among the women who worked on the quilt "which was kept by the family and never used," she said.

      Recently, she decided that the quilt should return "home" to the church where it was made, so Mrs. Perezek had it framed for display. And then she gave it to Trinity United Methodist Church

      "The man who framed it made it so that it can be rotated all four ways, and you can read all the names that way," she explained, noting that church member Betty Kirshner located the framer.

      Last week the newly framed quilt was hung on a west wall, visible from the sanctuary. "Where people can see it and maybe remember some of the people," Mrs. Perezek said.

      It was placed well in advance of the church's annual dinner which will be April 14.

      The church, dedicated May 20, 1917, pre-dates the quilt by only 13 years.

      Her gift to the church has only one condition: the quilt cannot be sold. And, if it leaves, she wants it to go to a museum.

      "I think they hope to have one built here in Riverside," she said.

      A Riverside native, she recognized many of the names, noting who were business people and where they had been located in the town.

      Besides her mother, some of the women who did the quilt were Kate Ingram, Clara Fitzsimmons, Ola O'Laughlin, Bertha Tener, Millie Linsley, Celia Safourek, Mary Hartzler and Frances Moss.

      "They quilted together for a number of years," she said, displaying a photo of them from the early 1950s.