The Christmas-at-Sea program of Seamen's Church Institute (SCI) of New York and New Jersey is in need of knitters to make scarves, caps, socks and vests for seafarers who come from tropical to temperate countries and are unprepared for frigid winter weather.
 
SCI has an extensive ministry for the 30,000 mariners on the inland waterways called Ministry on the River that includes support from more than 100 River Friendly Churches in 11 states.
 
Last year, nearly 14,000 hand-knitted gifts were place onboard vessels as tributes to the friendliness and compassion of Americans to seafarers that endure substantial physical hardships, and confront dangerous seas.
 
This year, SCI chaplains are prepared to increase distribution in the Port of New York and New Jersey and along 2,200 miles of America's inland waterways.
 
To add your name to the 3,500 knitters from every state who contribute year-round contact Barbara Clauson at 212.349.9090 or cas@seamenschurch.org and download patterns at http://www.seamenschurch.org
 
 
 
Note: The following title is available from the Episcopal Book/Resource Center, 815 Second Ave., New York, NY 10017; 800.334.7626; http://www.episcopalbookstore.org/.

To Read: TWO COUNTRIES SPEAK: Poems and Remembrances by Joyce P. Nightingale-Holder, BS, MA, CRNA (IUniverse Inc.; $23.95.) 

From the publisher: Author Joyce P. Nightingale-Holder engages the sensibilities by tapping into our perception of a myriad of day-to-day topics. The chapter, The Nature of Things lauds the ingenuity of nature. The section entitled Muses of Back Home reconstructs some of the culture and folklore from the olden days of her native Barbados.

Joyce P. Nightingale is a retired certified registered nurse anesthetist residing Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of Anesthesia for Renal Transplant; Pathophysiology and Anesthesia Correlations of the Prune Belly Syndrome, and The Effects of Clinical Education Settings of Students' Anxiety Levels.