Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
SUITED UP — Ares Rattray, Southside sixth-grader, beams over what he found at the school’s first clothing swap. Beth Ludwig, sixth-grade social studies teacher, seen with Rattray, said a huge amount of clean, wearable clothing came in for children to choose and have something new and different.
By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
HOULTON — On the heels of a successful toy swap just before the holidays, the idea got a new lease on life in the new year when students participated in a clothing swap last Wednesday at Southside School.
“With economic times being tough,” said Beth Ludwig, the sixth grade social studies teacher, “we decided to try a clothing swap. It’s a chance to wear something different and new to them and no money is spent.”
The gym was filled practically to overflowing with clean, wearable clothing that students had outgrown or simply no longer wore. By midday, several students were still sorting and folding clothes to keep them neat in piles on tables and even along the bleacher seats.
Jonas Geiger, a sixth-grader, was wearing something that caught his eye earlier that morning. “I found this plaid shirt and a very spiffy tie,” he said. Meanwhile, Joshua Lezotte, a fifth-grader, was sorting clothes with Carla Griffin, an aide. He, too, had found something that struck his fancy. “I found a blue shirt this morning.”
While folding and sorting clothes, sixth-grader Kyle Turner said he had found some black and pink sneakers that suited him perfectly. 
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
TEAMWORK — Carla Griffin, Southside School aide, and Joshua Lezotte, a fifth grade student, help fold clothes for the swap. Lezotte said he liked a blue shirt he found at the clothing swap.
Ludwig said the toy drive before Christmas was so successful that the entire school was able to take two turns at a choice of toys. “We asked them to take a toy for somebody else. Some may have kept them. But, that’s OK. For the clothing swap, they were able to take something for themselves or for someone else. A huge amount of clothing came in. A few parents even came in and we asked them to help distribute the clothes to someone with children.”
Ares Rattray, also in the sixth grade, may not have hit the mother lode, but he was pretty happy with what he chose. “I got a coat, gloves and a pretty cool hat — like a Christmassy hat.”
The overflow of clothes, said Ludwig, will go to a number of Stepping Stones programs and the Salvation Army. She added that it was a community effort, supported by Principal Jason Tarr, with parents helping to gather, sort and distribute the clothes.
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
CLOTHES, CLOTHES EVERYWHERE — At one of the tables, several sixth-graders from left, Jordan Violette, Cameron Clark, Joshua Becton, Kyle Turner and Jill Moran, folded and sorted more clothes for the swap.
