Community threads

A story that combines campus, alumni, sustainability, the Georgia Bulldogs, and local partnerships weaves the fabric held together by Community threads:

It might be difficult to see on television or while attending a game in Sanford Stadium, but if you were to examine the University of Georgia’s football jerseys closely, you would see tokens from past games in the form of darned tears or re-stitched seams.

These repairs tell the story of the Bulldogs’ season. They are a “memory map,” said Sanni Baumgaertner, the owner of Community, the downtown Athens business that performs weekly repairs on the jerseys.

“As you continue to wear something, that garment gains more value—it doesn’t lose it. I believe these jerseys become very valuable to the players,” Baumgaertner said. “When something is repaired and valued, it takes on a different meaning. Also, to the fans, that becomes a valuable object—almost like a good luck charm.”

After the field is cleared, football equipment intern Roger Velasquez and his team gather up the jerseys, give everything a thorough wash and check for rips, tears and missing patches. Any uniforms needing repair are then driven downtown, where Community gives them a second life.

“They do a great job with repairs. Our timeline can change depending on when we need the jerseys—if there are back-to-back home games or back-to-back away games, we’ll drop them off Monday morning, and then we can pick them up on Wednesday afternoon,” Velasquez said. “They’re great about making all of those fixes, or if they notice an additional rip or tear, they’ll patch that up as well.”

Continue reading this wonderful story. Congratulations to Community, great friends of the Franklin College.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Image: BFA Fabric Design senior and Community seamstress Julia Urrea mends a football jersey at the Community Athens Boutique. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA)