Owatonna woman makes eyeglass cases for hospital

[Owatonna People's Press, November 04, 2009] 2,416. If that number doesn’t sound very high, try your hand at turning that many pieces of sewn fabric inside-out. That is exactly what Arlene Smeby, a nonagenarian, has been doing since 2007. But she hasn’t been doing it alone. Instead, she has called on the help of her neighbors and friends, in order to turn thousands of swatches of sewn fabric into eyeglass cases for use at the Owatonna Hospital. “I got the idea after my son-in-law had surgery in Phoenix,” said Smeby.