Yellow Ribbon Room is where spouses can create friendships

Tiffany Reid could hear a tinge of sadness in the voice of her 9-year-old daughter, Hannah.

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"My daughter makes jewelry and sells it to our family," Reid said. When she told Hannah that she was attending a jewelry-making workshop July 15, Hannah, who is in Mississippi, was disappointed she couldn't attend, her mother said.

"I told her I'd be getting tips," said Reid, one of about a dozen women at the workshop, which was the July event for the Yellow Ribbon Room program at Fort Gordon's Family Outreach Center.

Belly dancing, line dancing, card-making and jewelry-making are a few of the activities that have been a part of the monthly Yellow Ribbon Room, said Kathryn Palmer, of Army Community Service, which sponsors the program.

"We do this once a month so that spouses have someplace to go and get to know each other," she said.

Originally, the program was intended for spouses of deployed service members; however, any military spouses may attend. Most of the spouses at the July event were new to the program.

Beth Whittenburg, whose husband, Spc. Stephen Whittenburg, is in South Korea, attended the program because her neighbor, A.J. Pforter, was conducting the workshop.

"I've been here four years, and I've never been to anything like this on post," Whittenburg said.

While Pforter explained different types of beads and stones and gave some one-on-one instruction on making bracelets, the women chatted among themselves.

"This is my relaxation time," said Virginia Hindbaugh, a military wife and mother of six.

For more information about the Yellow Ribbon Room, call (706) 791-3579.