Spring Repair Café coming
Get your broken stuff ready; Sustainable Charlotte, the Charlotte Library and the Charlotte Grange will be hosting the next Repair Café on Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Charlotte Congregational Church.
Registration is necessary. Residents of nearby towns are welcome.
Catherine Bock, left, sews and shows how to sew at a previous Repair Café.
A Repair Café is a four-hour community party of talented local folks volunteering their skills to fix or help you learn to repair your broken stuff. Just bring your broken things to the Repair Café and watch and learn as the handy folks do their magic.
In addition to fixing, organizers hope to:
- promote and teach the lost art of repair to all ages
- keep perfectly good stuff out of the landfill
- build our town’s sense of community by working together to meet each other’s needs.
In the past Charlotte’s Repair Café has helped with the following:
- repairing lamps — replace switches and cords, tighten wobbly bases
- repairing jewelry (no soldering), replacing watch batteries, fixing watch bands
- replacing eyeglass screws
- repairing fishing tackle and camping gear
- repairing furniture, cuckoo clocks, dolls, favorite toys (wooden, metal or plastic)
troubleshooting or repairing small appliances, electronics, radios, fans, heaters, (de)humidifiers - sharpening garden tools, replacing wooden handles, repairing electric trimmers
- sharpening knives, scissors, axes;
mending clothing by hand or sewing machine; repairing holey knits; adjusting sewing machines - replacing zippers.
- Organizers are always looking for new volunteer repairers. Do you have a repair or creative skill you want to offer? Email Jamey Gerlaugh, the Repair Café coordinator.
There is no charge for our repairers’ labor. If your repair requires new parts you are responsible for buying those parts beforehand and bringing them. Please do register your items to be fixed so that we know what kinds of skills will be needed for all the repairs.
We do ask that attendees, if able, bring a food or monetary donation to the Charlotte Food Shelf. Coffee and home-baked goods will be available all day. Lunch of chili, soups, salad and drinks will be available for a $5 donation to Sustainable Charlotte. See you and your broken stuff on April 15. Contact Louis Cox with questions about your needed repairs.
And here are some future events hosted by Sustainable Charlotte and the Charlotte Library:
- April 17 – first night of a six-week book discussion of “The Treeline”
- April 26 – Sas Carey film on Mongolia
- April 30 – George Lakey to speak at the library
- May 6 – electronic waste collection at GreenUp Day
- May 17 – green drinks at Backyard Bistro (not really “green;” just talk about green ideas)
- You can learn all about these events on our website.