Local judge becomes mask maker

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

Magisterial District Judge Beth Scagline Mills describes herself as a “casual sewer,” turning out a quilt every few years and doing some basic hemming, but lately, she’s been sewing eight hours a day.

With her Forward Township magistrate’s office closed due to the pandemic, Mills has been serving on a rotating shift with other district judges in the county, leaving her with some free time. 

In mid-March, Paula DeClaudio of Sutersville, who is the local organizer for #WeAreAllInThisTogether, asked if she would volunteer to make face masks.

“Paula got me started and it just escalated,” Mills said.

There are about a dozen people in the group DeClaudio has organized, with between 7,500 and 10,000 masks made to date. Originally, the project was to make masks for nursing homes and first responders, but it’s grown, Mills said.

“I made masks for my staff, friends and family,” she said. “Then on April 6, I sewed and delivered 30 masks to Pittsburgh Municipal Court. The clerks at PMC were still having interaction with the public. I used Steelers material. 

“I recently made another delivery on April 20 of 30 more masks. All the masks we have done, we haven’t charged anyone anything.”

Mills donated both her time and materials to the project, as have others, and people who don’t sew have also donated supplies to the project. The masks are washable, which helps cut costs for the organizations using them in place of single-use disposable masks, which are also hard to come by.

DeClaudio said the project started with her and her sister making masks for a local nursing home that had taken care of their parents and grew to include additional, volunteers and recipients.

“The youngest is 12 years old. It’s a father-daughter team, Damien Michaels and Abby, from Elizabeth Township,” DeClaudio said. “Her father’s a registered nurse. She does the basic sewing and he does the pleats. It’s really a diverse group of people.”

DeClaudio said the group hasn’t asked for donations other than elastic once it became scarce, though materials have been donated by individuals and local businesses. A large spool of elastic arrived in the mail from an anonymous donor.

“Many of our donations came from local people and local businesses. They were so generous in donating so the medical people and at-risk groups could be served first,” DeClaudio said..

Mills makes an average of 30 masks a day, but turned out 50 one day.

“Our group has also made masks for the local stores, police departments and school districts. I moved my sewing machine from my spare bedroom to my living room so I could have more light and attempt to watch TV while sewing,” Mills said. “The small businesses are really hurting because when they go back to work, they’ll need masks and they’re hard to come by.”

Mills is wrapping up her final mask orders this week and is making porch deliveries throughout her district, though the others in the group will still be making masks.

“I’m looking forward to going back to work. It’s easier than what I’m doing now.” Mills said.