Debbie Croft: Love of Weaving Turned into Business
Merced, CA – When visiting a national park or cultural museum, demonstrations of basket weaving are sometimes presented, and in the gift shop small packages of supplies and instructions for making baskets can be purchased. If the name on the package is Wildwoods Craft Kits, it came from the home of Lorna Pollack.
The cottage industry started in her home more than 30 years ago.
In 1978, while her daughters were students at Santa Cruz Waldorf School, a basketry workshop was given. Pollack was fascinated, and she borrowed or purchased as many books on the subject as she could. She began teaching herself the techniques. Soon she was able to give workshops, and donated the proceeds to the school. Eventually, her workshops were given at the University of California at Santa Cruz recreation department, Santa Cruz City Museum and other museums in California, and later in New Mexico where she and her husband, Charles Rowe, lived for a few years after their girls went to college.
