Donation brings ‘sew’ much joy

The Minneota FCCLA girls were excited last week while modeling the new t-shirts they designed and made from a generous donation from Mary and the late David Gislason.
David, who was known as "Gooz", passed away this past fall. He had been a 911 dispatcher with the Marshall Police Department for many years until he retired in 2013. He then purchased the "Sew What?" embroidery business from his stepbrother, Dennis Ozmun, and ran it out of his residence's garage in Marshall for many years.
When David fell ill, the Gislasons unsuccessfully attempted to sell the business, so David told his wife that he would like the embroidery and heat press machines, as well as numerous spools of embroidery thread of all colors, to be donated to the high school in Minneota where he graduated from in 1973.
Mary contacted Family and Consumer Sciences instructor LeaAnne Bot to see if her class could make use of the machines and embroidery thread.
Bot traveled to the Gislason home in Marshall to look at the equipment and readily accepted the generous offer this past fall.
"We had to make sure that there was room at the school for everything before we could accept it," Bot explained. "We didn't know exactly what we would use them for at first, but we were sure we could find use for everything they were giving us."
The initial plan was for David to help move the equipment and then teach the students how to use the machines.
"David was hospitalized and then in transition at the nursing home, but we thought he would be home by then," said Mary. "That didn't happen."
David passed away on Aug. 29.
"Arrangements were made for (school personnel) to pick up everything in September," Mary said. "There was a bit of miscommunication on the date and time, but LeaAnne made it happen since I had lined up help on my end and was going to be returning to work."
Mary, who has been a 911 dispatcher with the Lyon County Sheriff's Department for the past 41 years, knew little about the embroidery business, so was unable to show how to use the machines.
"Dennis had owned the business prior to us buying it and helped with the transfer," said Mary. "He is planning to help with the training if they need it. "David and Mary met through their occupations as 911 dispatchers with the police and sheriff's departments, respectively.
"(David) heard my voice over the radio one day and decided he wanted to meet me," Mary told. "He would come over and talk to me on his lunch break. Within a year we were married on 9-11 in 1982, although at the time there was no 911 emergency number, so we didn't plan that day on purpose. We really didn't think anything of it at the time."
Besides teaching her regular classes at school, Bot is also the FCCLA advisor in Minneota. Twelve of the girls qualified for the nationals in Denver in July and came up with the idea to design and print t-shirts using the heat press that the Gislasons had donated.
When Mary was informed of this, she seemed delighted.
"I'm so glad they are finding uses for the machines," she said. "I hope they enjoy them. It's what Dave would have wanted."
Bot said the machines will likey be used to make things and sell them as a fundraiser to defray costs of the FFCLA national trip each year, and also will be used in her Family and Consumer Science classes.