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Remember Fido at Christmas

Subhead
Local FCCLA project is one to chew on
Lead Summary
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By
Mavis Fodness

Seventh-grader Paige Kubesh has a talent for tying knots, a skill that Luverne High School FCCLA adviser Carmen Thompson discovered recently.
Thompson chose making a dog’s chew toy from flannel strips as a community engagement project for her Family, Career and Community Leaders of America chapter members.
She saw the tying of square knots together to form the homemade dog toys and encouraged the FCCLA members to watch a video on how to make the toy.
“I thought, ‘Oh, I have some fleece left over,’ so I decided to give them a try,” Thompson said. “Some kids did a couple, but this one (referring to Kubesh) went wild.”
Kubesh a first-year FCCLA member, made 52 chew toys in a matter of weeks. She discovered she has a talent for braiding four strips of fleece together that comes from a simple focus.
“I wanted to do something fun,” she said. “I didn’t know how to do it when the group started … I just wanted to try and make one.”
Thompson said other students gave up learning how to effectively tie square knots into an almost foot-long braided rope. Kubush uses one hand and pulls the fleece strips with the right amount of tension for a tight weave.
Thompson believes the tight knots will occupy a canine for hours, thanks to Kubesh’s effort to braid a good quality toy in a matter of minutes.
“She’s become a pro,” Thompson said. “She’s gotten really good at it.”
The dog chew’s durability was noticed by Heather Roberts. She gave a donation to the FCCLA group for a few chew toys for her own dogs.
“I love them — even bought a few for gifts for a few other dogs I know,” Roberts said. “
From Roberts’ reaction, the group has dog chews available to the public for a donation to the FCCLA chapter.
The donations and the unsold chews will be given to the Tracy Area Animal Rescue organization for use in animal foster homes.
Thompson is encouraging Kubesh, daughter of Andi and Dan Kubesh, Luverne, to explain the dog toy project in a “See What I Have Done” presentation about what members did as chapter projects.

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