Origami club brings all generations to the library

BARSTOW — A new generation of enthusiasts are learning to produce tiny animals out of paper at the Barstow Branch Library.

The origami club at the Barstow Public Library has only met four times but it has already become one of the most popular events at the library, children’s specialist Tawni Walls said. About 15 students showed up for class last Monday, struggling to shape miniature fish and cranes out of paper under the direction of seasoned origami artist Frank Vessels.

The library introduced origami during its regular craft time after someone donated a book on the Japanese paper-folding craft, Walls said.

“It was a real big hit, so we turned it into a club,” she said.

Vessels walked into the first club meeting expecting to participate, not to lead the lesson, but he quickly got roped into teaching. The Seventh Day Adventist pastor emeritus got hooked on origami 50 years ago. He was browsing in a bookstore and came across a book cover featuring a picture of a bird made out of a dollar bill.

Since then, Vessels has taken the art with him everywhere. He teaches children in Sabbath-school class to make elephants out of dollar bills. At Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he goes for regular check-ups, Vessels hands out origami pieces to the nurses.

“The nurses say, ‘I can’t take that. It’s money,’” Vessels said. “I say, ‘It’s not money any more. It’s a conversation piece.”

When he eats out, children at nearby tables are likely to get a gift.

In Tyler, Tex., Vessels bonded with a pizza shop manager named R. Paul Millet over their mutual love of origami. Millet knew George Bush, Sr., personally, so he and Vessels decided to send a gift to George W. Bush on his first presidential election campaign in 2000. Millet made a tuxedo out of a dollar bill, which Vessels framed with little dollar-bill elephants and campaign buttons.

Vessels’ students in Barstow range from 10-year-old Cameron Taylor, who tried out origami for the first time last Monday, to James Melcarek, a teacher’s aide in the Barstow Unified School District.

Melcarek first started using origami to keep the students occupied in detention. Although he often ends up doing the majority of the folding for them, it turned out to be popular with the kids.

“The idea is to help them do something, to keep them busy, so they can take something home,” he said.

The next scheduled origami club meeting is June 16 at 4 p.m., at the Barstow Branch Library.

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