Millerton Repair Café planned for October

MILLERTON — On Oct. 25 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Millerton will host its first Repair Café in the NorthEast-Millerton Library Annex.

Since its debut in Amsterdam in 2009, Repair Café has sought to advocate for and practice sustainability by encouraging the art of fixing objects, rather than throwing them away. From there, the Repair Café has spread, making its way to New Paltz in 2013, and taking off around the Hudson Valley.

The event in Millerton on October will present a community space providing cost-free repairs to household items in an effort to spread knowledge and reduce waste.

“The movement has really started to teach folks to empower themselves to repair things,” said Meg Winkler, an organizer for the Millerton Repair Café. “Also, to stop putting things in the landfill and throwing things out. It’s sort of like a lost art.”

The “coaches” or volunteers, are there to do more than fix objects. Other than serving to repair, the Cafés are a hub to strengthen community and spread knowledge and confidence through an interactive teaching approach. Winkler said that “from a grassroots standpoint, it brings a community together to share and teach those things.”

On the day the Millerton Repair Café is set to run, volunteers will be set up and grouped at tables by skill set and categories such as electrical, mechanical and textiles. “We hope the folks that we’re getting to volunteer have multiple skill sets, a lot of times they work as a group to solve these things,” Winkler said.

Kathleen Everett, another organizer who also started the Rhinebeck Repair Café, added that individuals who do not have the skillset to be coaches should not be discouraged from volunteering. “We need people to help organize and get people to where they need to be,” she said.

A variety of volunteers in different fields will aid in repairing electrical or mechanical objects — such as lamps, kitchen items and small appliances — and fans and other electronics. The Café will also provide woodworking, knife sharpening, repair for toys, textiles and jewelry with hopes to feature simple printer and sewing repair. Bicycle, small engine and musical instrument repairs are further goals for organizers.

“The Repair Café’s premise is that you have to be able to hand carry it in,” when it comes to your items, Winkler said, adding that for the Millerton Café’s first event, the limit is two items.

With textiles, Everett said she can patch clothing and repair buttons and handles. She said one can “make a beautiful thing out of your item and not try to hide the fact that it was damaged, but actually do something with that. To make it kind of unique.”

“Sometimes with sentimental things we say ‘we can’t fix this, but it’s worth fixing.’” Everett said.

Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson said the event extends the library’s services to support sustainable goals and community building. “It’s really something that’s a part of our mission in general, just be able to provide education to our community. So that’s not just coming, getting something fixed and going home. You’re going to be leaving with a little bit of knowledge of how to try to do it yourself next time,” she said.

There are many things to take from the upcoming Repair Café, Everett said. “You can look from an environmental standpoint. You can look from a budget saving standpoint. You can look for just knowledge and self empowerment. So the goal is to get these things going through this process.”

“The broader goal is to have people leave asking, ‘Oh, what else could possibly be fixed that I thought was disposable?’” Everett said. “And possibly change the way they look at things they buy in the future.”

Winkler hopes the Café will give individuals the confidence to maintain objects to prevent breaking and to lengthen the lives of items as much as possible.

“It has been really amazing to hear all the different skills that people we see every day have and are willing to donate their time to help,” said Leo-Jameson.

After the upcoming event, the Millerton Repair Café hopes to operate twice a year, the next is aimed for around Earth Day. Those interested in volunteering can email millertonrepaircafe@gmail.com.

To learn more about Repair Cafe Hudson Valley, visit www.repaircafehv.org.