Nail crosses are making their way into hands, pockets and purses all around Seward, thanks to the volunteer work of Roger Potratz.
Potratz has made more than 3,000 nail crosses, each one created by hand and given away for free.
“I just wanted something to do with my extra time,” he said. “I need to have something going on all the time. It’s just part of my personality, and I thought it would be a good Christian witness, also. It has turned out to be way more than I thought it would ever be.”
Potratz began making nail crosses about six months before he moved from Michigan City, Indiana, to Seward. Come September, he will have lived in Seward for three years.
While living in Indiana, he donated the crosses to his church for anyone to take. Upon moving to Seward, he began giving them to local businesses as well as his church, St. John Lutheran Church.
“It’s just fantastic that people accept them,” he said.
Potratz, also a member of the Seward Kiwanis Club and Cross Makers, said nearly every business on the square has a container of his crosses sitting out for the public. He puts a note in each container that invites people to take a free “Cross in my Pocket.”
“Every time you reach in your pocket for some change or something, there’s the cross,” he said. “It reminds them they are a Christian.”
Potratz uses a 2-inch square cut nail and a 1 ½-inch square cut nail for each cross.
He typically orders 50 pounds of nails at a time. After he receives them, he puts several nails into a rock tumbler filled with gravel and tumbles them for at least two hours. Then, he washes, dries and spray paints them in various colors.
After the paint dries, he uses superglue to attach the two nails to make a cross shape. He wraps the cross with 26-gauge wire that he glues to the nail. This ensures the cross will not fall apart if it is dropped.
He mounts each cross on a card with a cross symbol on one side and the purpose of the Cross in my Pocket on the other.
Recently, a couple of men from Omaha ordered dozens of his crosses. They also donated to his efforts.
“They’re passing them out to the people they know over there in Omaha, so, who knows where this is going to go?” Potratz said. “Of course, back in Michigan City, they have a lot of them, some up in Michigan itself, some in communities adjacent to Seward and some in Raleigh, North Carolina, where my daughter lives.”
Potratz said he gives the crosses away for free because he would never want someone not to have a cross due to cost, and he wants to have a positive impact on those around him.
He has received many positive comments about his crosses, and he would love for people to help spread the word about them.
“I think this could really blossom,” he said.
