1,000 cranes honor health workers
PLAIN TWP. — A nonprofit foundation that uses its proceeds to benefit people at risk is doing more to say thank you to front-line workers.
The front window of Charlotte & Main, an antiques/vintage boutique in Canton, has on display “1,000 Cranes for Hope.” It’s a flock of handcrafted paper cranes — 1,013 to be exact.
The display was the brainchild of Lon Elsass, who runs the nonprofit store for the benefit of the Marlin and Minnie Snyder Foundation. The foundation, which is named after Elsass’ grandparents, assists young adults aging out of foster care, victims of domestic violence and veterans in need.
Elsass said he folded 50 cranes in March to honor families the foundation had assisted.
“Shortly after Gov. (Mike) Dewine mandated that the stores close, being a creative person, I like to keep busy,” Elsass said with a smile. “I knew the meaning behind the the cranes. There’s a saying that he who folds 1,000 cranes will receive a wish.”
Cranes have long been symbols of peace, success and good luck in Japan. The creation of paper cranes, or “senbazuru,” is known as the Japanese art of origami.
They’re also given as get-well gifts. The tradition became internationally popular after 12-year-old Sadako Sasaki died from radiation-related leukemia in 1955 after surviving the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
After learning that folding 1,000 cranes meant a granted wish, the child tried but was unable to finish the task. She died Oct. 25, 1955, after folding 644 cranes.
After two weeks of folding “morning to night,” Elsass offered his wish: that the nation’s front-line workers — nurses, doctors, medical support staff and first responders — would remain safe from the coronavirus.
“People really love it,“he said. After taking the display to area hospitals and fire and police departments,
Elsass decided to place the cranes in the front window.
David Steele, a volunteer at Charlotte & Main, said he’s astonished at what Elsass has done.
“I saw those 1,000 cranes, and I thought, `I can’t do that,’” he said.
Although Elsass usually changes the store window regularly, he’ll keep the cranes on display for a while.
“I just think it’s a cool message,” he said. “We all need to be there for each other.”
As for the extra 13 cranes? Elsass said it’s a tribute to his grandmother, who was born on Feb. 13.
Thirteen, he noted, was her lucky number.