Guest speaker, Joan Schneider’s dive into the quilting business was much like not being able to swim when all of a sudden you are thrust into the water and have to learn in a hurry.
 
Her delve into quilting began when she and her husband were driving by the vacant Oxdrift Public School when her husband casually said they should “buy it”. 
 
And a few days later, the School Board said it was theirs.
 
It was only then that Schneider decided that she would take a few courses in quilting. The next thing she knew she was springing for a $30,000 long arm quilting machine.
 
Once it arrived she realized she realized she had no idea how to run it. Slowly, she taught herself to master it. At first she thought she would just do quilts for others until the machine had been paid for and then she would do quilting for herself.
 
Soon, however she realized that others wanted to quilt as well so Schneider decided she would put on classes at school.  It didn’t take her long too to realize that people also needed supplies so she began to stock them as well.
 
Joan concluded with the comment that as a former counsellor, she also realized that while people were there for 3 hours, they would “talk” lots but reminded us “that what is said in Oxdrift stays in Oxdrift!”