Keeping babies warm with a little green & gold action! Woman crochets Packers hats for newborns
GREEN BAY (WITI) – When it comes to the Green Bay Packers, the fans are some of the best in the NFL, and one Mishicot woman is making sure it stays that way.
Some yarn and a crochet hook is all Dorthy Reno needs to pass the time.
“It goes fast and you can make all kinds of different things, so I just enjoy it," Reno said.
She’s crocheted pretty much all of her life.
”It's just a simple stitch. There’s nothing fancy about the stitch I’m doing," Reno said.
Now that she’s retired, she has a lot more time -- so she decided to try something new.
“Everybody is interested in the Packers. Everybody!" Reno said.
With winter on its way, Reno thought it might be nice for some of the newest additions to Packers Nation to get a warm welcome.
“I just kind of thought it would be kind of cute to have the babies have a Packers hat," Reno said.
For the past few years, Reno has been making the Packers hats and donating them to area hospitals for newborns.
“I don’t really know. I just like doing it I guess. It makes me feel good I guess," Reno said.
She spends hours making each piece and putting it together to make it perfect. Reno even makes pink ones for the girls. A diehard Packers fan you might ask? Well, kind of.
“Yeah, as much as anybody else. I’m not a real nut about it, but yeah, I am," Reno said.
If by chance the babies getting her hats grow up to be loyal to the green and gold, that would be an added bonus.
“Well if it helps!” Reno said.
She usually makes deliveries by the dozen, and for years, she’d just drop off the hats, hoping their new owners would appreciate them, but never knowing for sure.
“When I take the hats up there, I don’t know if I dare ask even if they would put one on a baby. I just, I don’t know," Reno said.
She’s received pictures of babies wearing her hats, but she’s always wanted to see one in person.
Reno's recent delivery to Holy Family Memorial Hospital in Manitowoc was different. With some special arrangements, Reno will finally get to see what she’s been waiting for – the culmination of every hook and stitch.
Liam Radue was a recipient of one of Reno’s Packers hats. Reno met him and his parents at the hospital.
“I love it. I’m a life long Packers fan and it made me really happy," Jason Radue, Liam’s father said.
Liam's mother, on the other hand...
“Well, I’m a Bears fan,” Rachel Radue said.
But Packers fan or not, the hat and the gesture is one the Radues never forget.
“It's a keepsake, so it’s kind of neat to have and tell his story and to be able to see so much craftsmanship go into it. I though it was really neat," Rachel Radue said.
It’s a memory Reno will cherish forever.
“Now I’ve seen it all, and I even got to hold him” Reno said.
Reno has now started making Mickey and Minnie hats. She said she’s made well over a hundred hats and also donates them to hospitals in Two Rivers, Green Bay and Oshkosh.
The Radues said they’ll let Liam decide who he wants to cheer for when he gets older.