ìHanging out with the bros” can mean all sorts of things on a college campus: eating and playing video games, to name a couple. But for seven juniors on the north end of campus, who call themselves The Brochet Society, it means spending two days a week crocheting hats for charitable agencies.
ìMatt taught me how to crochet, and then Zach eventually learned, too. Zach threw out the idea that we should crochet hats for charity, and we joked about it for a good while,” said Jake Kubasta í11, who is the house coordinator. ìBut then we all started to eventually realize this was a great idea.”
Consisting of Kubasta, Matt Pullara í11, Will Santino í11, Alan Van Runkle í11, Chris Perez í11, Bill Hiatt í11 and Zach Boylston í11, The Brochet Society makes approximately 21 hats a month for three establishments: Christian Childrenís Home, Every Womanís House and the hematology and oncology center at the Cleveland Clinic.
Kubasta stated that each person tries to make two to three† hats per† week, though those that take longer may only do two per month. They meet twice per week to work on their latest hats.
On average, Kubasta said the group can make a hat in anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours, depending on individual skill levels and intricate designing. ìThereís the standard beanie, plus the kinds with poof balls and flaps for the ears,” said Kubasta. ìThose make a big difference. We also do ones with multiple colors.”
Santino stated that The Brochet Society strives to distinguish itself from regular crocheters as ìBrocheters,” noting that there is a ìsimple but humongous difference between Brocheting and crocheting.”
ìOfficially through WVN [Wooster Volunteer Network], weíre The Crochet Network, but Bro-dom has such an impact on what we do,” said Santino. ìYou canít watch television all that much while doing it, so itís really conducive to conversation and getting to know the others better.”
ìSome of our best nicknames come from Brocheting dialogues, like Nighthawk [Van Runkle] and Chrisdactyl [Perez]. Itís become a part of who we are ó we get just as much out of this as others do.”
Every member of the Brochet Society also lived together in one of the program houses last year, Van Runkle said.
ìEven though our program was different last year, we have been brocheting since about then,” said Van Runkle. ìIt was definitely something people noticed about us. Itís just a really cool talent to have.”
ìWeíre more passionate about this than our last project,” added Boylston, ìWe all like to help kids, and this is a way we can do it.”
Boylston, who is also a member of the Wooster Activities Crew, stated that he would be interested in holding a Brocheting event in Lowry at some point to teach others, but no specific event has been planned yet.
ìPersonally, I know our friends will be more motivated to learn when the winter comes in,” continued Boylston. ìSo hopefully in the next three weeks we can grab a table on a Sunday or Saturday afternoon, and hang around for three hours and show others how to brochet.”
ìItís a very rewarding experience,” said Perez. ìMy sister was in the hospital for two months, and it feels great to give something to a kid who was in a position like she was. Itís all about the looks on their faces.”