SPRINGFIELD –The Effingham County Senior Citizens Center has gifts that will keep on giving long after all the Christmas decorations are put away.
The facility at 128 New Stillwell Road features a gift shop loaded with beautiful handmade items for just about everyone on your Christmas list. These include baby blankets, booties, jewelry, wreaths, dish towels and all sorts of ceramics.
“As my mama used to say when she was baking a cake, every item in there is made from scratch,” Seniors Citizens Center Director Theresa Johnson said.

All proceeds from gift sales go into the center’s Activities Fund. Most of the items range in price from $2 to $60. A ceramic Nativity set costs $150.
“Our clients do a wonderful job,” Johnson said. “They are so talented and it makes them happy when they see their items put on display in the gift shop.”
The center keeps thousands of molds on hand for its ceramic creations, including highly popular Georgia Bulldogs fixtures.
“The seniors paint everything you see out there,” Johnson said. “They paint the Christmas trees, the snow men, the napkin rings and everything else.”
The gift shop, open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., features impressive displays of sewing, too. Some clients teach others crochet and needlepoint skills.

“They also started doing jewelry again and it’s been selling,” Johnson said.
Johnson expects the gift shop will boast even more impressive art in the future.
“In 2023, I hope to buy even more molds,” she said. “I want to have even more items in there. We keep Christmas trees and things out there year round but we try to rotate it around for every holiday.”