We've got you covered

While it remains to be seen if there will be another wave of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Valley has been relatively unscatched by the global pandemic. Normally insulated from national and international events, this little corner of Wyoming did see impacts as far as businesses and gatherings were concerned. 

That didn't stop community members, however, from sending out a little Valley hospitality to the rest of the world.

As the United States first began to struggle with the arrival of COVID-19, the lack of personal protective equipment for medical workers and average citizens became apparent. In response, a number of seamstresses in the Valley began making masks for both people within their community as well as for people elsewhere.

For Tonia Mendez, owner of Modern Day Ruth and Naomi, the catalyst to begin making and shipping masks across the country came following a conversation in March with a sister-in-law in Alaska.

"She had ordered from my boutique and I was late on the shipping, so I said, 'Hey, I know that there's a shortage on masks. Can I send you some masks, too?' and she said 'Yeah, that'd be really great.' So, I started there," said Mendez. 

Her other sister-in-law, Lana Sanchez, works at the Saratoga Care Center and had also requested masks. From there, Mendez began making masks for businesses throughout the area as well as people in other states. This includes Alaska, Texas, Missouri, Nevada, South Dakota and North Dakota.

Mendez didn't go into mask making with a solid template or idea. Instead, she took three different templates she found online and merged them together to make a functional mask. While not as effective as N95 respirators, the cloth masks are layered and can be worn over N95 respirators if needed. According to Mendez, the material of masks is important.

"You want to use 100 percent cotton and I don't like flannel because it's really hard to breath in. Any other material would be too moisture absorbent and you don't want that because then it just gets the bad germs in and it will hold it in longer," Mendez said. "There's different polyesters that you can make masks out of but those won't be as effective as 100 percent cotton because you won't be able to sanitize those the way you can cotton. Cotton can withstand higher temperatures than polyester can."

Mendez isn't the only one who started making masks because of a need expressed by a family or friend. Laura Morrow, owner of Laura M's Gallery, Backroom and Home on the Range, also began sewing masks following a conversation with a friend. According to Morrow, she had spoken with a friend in metro Florida who, at the time, was in need of masks.

"A lot of my masks are going outside the city. There's a lot of people that are getting them that I know; the older people I know and my friends and close friends that I'm making them for," said Morrow. "Another friend of mine asked me to make some for their family in Lincoln, Nebraska and then my family lives in Lincoln, Nebraska."

Morrow couldn't help but find some humor in the situation. At the time she was making masks, all three shops were closed. While she had been wanting to get back into manufacturing, it apparently took her shutting her shop down for a few weeks to actually do that.

Elsewhere in Saratoga, a sewing group also churned out cloth masks for several businesses in the Valley. Donna Shipp, Eva Robinson, Debbie Kinniburg and Joyce Cloyd all worked together on sewing masks that have been used by the Saratoga Care Center, Carbon County Public Health, the Platte Valley Clinic, Valley Foods, Saratoga Town Hall and Memorial Hospital of Carbon County.

The masks made by this quartet of seamstresses follow the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommendations and are two layers of tightly woven cotton and are lightly colored.

"It has to be washable and they encourage that individuals wash them daily. Of course, depending on how often they or how long you wear them," said Shipp. "Shively's has donated some blue filter cloth to us and they're basically those shop towels and we've cut them up and sewn them into one of our layers before we double layer our mask. That's what was requested by the Rawlins hospital."

For Hillery Ingelby, the production of masks was a group effort.. 

"It started off as a project for my son's school work and then we just decided, as a family, to make them and to have time together," said Ingelby. "This is like a family affair at my household. My sons are cutting and sewing and ironing, my husband's sewing. We all do it. It's not just me."

Along with making masks for people within the community, Ingelby and her family made masks for Memorial Hospital of Carbon County and the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. While other masks have been made with two layers and a filter placed in between them, the Ingelby made pockets in their masks to allow those wearing the masks to replace the filters.

It wasn't just Saratoga that had people get involved in making masks. Down in Encampment, Virginia Parker put her sewing skills to work as well.

"I've been doing a lot of stuff for the hospital (Memorial Hospital of Carbon County) and the ambulance stations and just people in general that need masks," said Parker. "I like to help people when I can. I started making masks mainly for the hospital and then switched to gowns and then the ambulance station asked me to make caps."

Parker believes she has made approximately 1,000 masks and between 30 and 40 gowns.

"There are so many sewing and helping to keep the supply up. It's been awesome to see people come together so quickly to help in any way they can," Parker said.

One only needs to stop in a local store to see a portion of the masks that have been produced in the area. Whether at Valley Foods, Shively's Hardware or elsewhere. It may be safe to say that, if someone needs a mask, the Valley has them covered.