Sue Lynch, a trucker from Prairie du Chien, WI, presented her handmade commemorative quilt to Jim Johnston, the president and co-founder of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. The quilt commemorates the association's 30th anniversary. (photo by Sandi Soendker)

Sue Lynch, a professional trucker from Prairie du Chien, WI, recently presented the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association with a handmade quilt commemorating the association’s 30^th anniversary.

Lynch presented the quilt to OOIDA President Jim Johnston during the association’s fall board meeting Nov. 13, preceding the association’s anniversary celebration the following day. OOIDA hosted a celebration Nov. 14 commemorating the 30^th anniversary of the formation of the national trade association for professional truckers. The event also highlighted the association’s recent milestone of surpassing 100,000 members and celebrated the expansion of the group’s headquarters in Grain Valley, MO.

Lynch, a member of OOIDA’s board of directors, began work on the quilt back in June while team driving with her husband, Bill. The quilt features the OOIDA logo with a yellow and orange background encircled by a black ring topped with an eagle. The orange and yellow variegated background and eagle’s feathers are evidence of Lynch’s meticulous attention to detail in the design of this quilt.

Lynch’s quilts have caught the attention of the producers for Simply Quilts, a national quilting program on Home & Garden Television. The camera crew filmed Lynch and her quilts Nov. 22 for a show about the quilting trucker. The show, titled “Quilting Semi,” will air in early 2004.