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GUIDE TO YELLOW SPR INGS | 2021– 2022 69 and included snacks. The free local fix-it event was organized by Kat Walter, a founder of both the YS Time Exchange and the YS Resilience Network. She came upon the concept online while researching community-based ways to reduce waste. “It just seemed like such a good idea,” she said. Keep- ing “stuff” out of landfills and strengthening community con- nections are among her goals for the gathering. The local Repair Café is part of an international network affiliated with the Repair Café Foundation, based in Amsterdam. According to the Repair Café website, the first Repair Café was started in 2009 by Martine Postma, a Dutch woman interested in sustainability practices. Her effort to bring together volunteer fixers and people with household items in need of repair was formalized as a nonprofit foundation in 2011. The foundation now has over 1,370 affiliated cafés around the world, according to the Repair Café website. Yellow Springs is the only Repair Café listed in Ohio, but interest is spreading. Attend - ees at the event included an official from the city of Cincin - nati’s recycling division and another observer from the Columbus area. Jennifer Bal- lard, the Cincinnati official, is planning a similar event in that city in March, and was looking for ideas. “I loved seeing it in action,” she said. Meanwhile, back at the repair tables, Nathaniel Ray- ford and Dave Turner were deep in conversation. Rayford had brought in an old space heater for repair. The plug had melted. “I went to plug it in and the prongs broke off,” he explained. Turner, a retired engineer who has a repair business in town, was able to replace the plug and get the heater working again. “I’m back in business,” Ray- ford exclaimed, with a broad smile. Repair complete, the talk quickly turned to the topic of repair itself. Rayford recalled how people of his grand- mother’s generation could fix anything. “Every minute people were doing something. They never talked about boredom,” he said. Turner called himself a born engineer. “I was never afraid to try to figure something out,” he said. And he maintained that fixing stuff isn’t as hard as many people assume. “Most things are the same. Half the battle is getting what - ever it is open,” he quipped. Others at the event agreed that “fixing” is fast becoming a lost art. Sharon Mohler and Nancy Lineburgh volunteered their time to sew on buttons and make other small clothing repairs. As she waited for cus- tomers, Mohler, a local artist, was busy with her seam ripper and sewing machine, convert- ing an old skirt into curtains. Many people today lack basic sewing skills, once a staple of girls’ education, Mohler noted. “Techno-heavy people have lost simple skills,” she said. But she appreciates com- puter help from the techno- savvy. Mohler is a member of the YS Time Exchange, in which people offer their ser - vices for free and bank hours to receive other free services in return. She is saving up her hours for computer assistance. A computer conundrum brought Phyllis Logan to the Repair Café. Her old iPad, showing signs of heavy use, had broken, and she was hoping to retrieve pictures from it. She didn’t think she’d backed anything up. “I’m not a good computer mother,” she confessed. Network engineer and volunteer fixer Tim Barhorst turned his attention to the iPad. The machine, despite various attempted interven - tions, proved unresponsive. “It died on the table,” he said later. Frank Blackstone’s item, an old eight-track player, met a kinder fate. A enthusias- tic fixer himself, Blackstone brought in the requisite tools, and watched intently as Duard Headley opened the player and fished around inside. The two reminisced about eight- tracks and old cars, and the pleasures of fixing. “When I’m in a public building that has a loose door handle, I take my pocket tool out and tighten it,” Headley revealed. Blackstone chuckled in recognition. Growing up in Dayton’s east end, fixing was a way of life, he said. “When you’re poor, you fix things.” Or at least, you try. “Taking it apart is not the problem, putting it back together is!” he joked. The enjoyment at the event was palpable. And that, according to Walter, is a big part of its value. “Keeping stuff out of the landfill and reducing waste was my initial thought,” she said this week. While that remains an important impetus, another purpose has emerged. People share stories and skills and connect face to face. Some stay for the whole event. “We’re weaving together a deeper community,” Walter said. ♦ 237 Xenia Ave., Downtown Yellow Springs • 937-767-9400 Dark Star Bookstore Visit us on Facebook • e-mail: books@darkstarbookstore.com browSe oVer 40,000 bookS New, Used, Out-of-Print and Collectible! Games • Graphic Novels • back Issue Comics we bUY bookS & CoMICS • 38 YeArS IN YeLLow SPrINGS www.DArkStArbookS.CoM • oPeN 7 DAYS A week Arbor-Care of Yellow Springs • Tree Removal • Stump Removal • Bucket Truck • Lot & Land Clearing • Experienced Climbers • Fully Insured 937-478-3727 • 937-874-5244 FREE ESTImaTES • CompETITIvE pRICIng