♦♦Notes from the Repair Cafe♦♦

What a beautiful autumn day we had. Thank you to all the volunteers: we had 14 coaches/fixers and six other volunteers who helped. We want to heartily thank coaches from surrounding communities (Rivertowns and Yorktown) who responded to our call for HELP!   It certainly was a busy day, having fixed 41 items and sharpening about 50 knives. Only two items could not be fixed.

Many many thanks to Hulya, our photographer, who captured many of our coaches at work and happy customers on the way out. 

“Thank you for such a wonderful service! This is the best!” – Sasha

“So happy to be able to fix the things that are fixable / Great Folks as well!” – Hilary 

“Thanks! can still wear my coat with the zipper repair!” – Robin 

“George was GREAT! Fixing my many watches!” – Nancy 

“Great service! FIX IT, DON’T DISCARD IT.”  – Michael 

What a great event we had on Saturday March 2nd  at the community center!  Despite the rain, we had a large turnout and sent many happy people home with repaired items-45 to be exact!  We also evaluated and advised  on 26 items that we were not able to fix at the Cafe   Some of these items needed parts which the owners will purchase, and return to us in May.  

Even though items are fixed for free,  we received over $100 in donations, which will be used to purchase eyeglass repair kits, fabric patches, watch batteries and lamp parts.

Repair Cafe volunteers are special people.  Our greeters/traffic flow people  were Lee DeLuccy and Janice Rost.  Lee is one of our organizers and she is the one who orders lunch, an important part of the day!   Our other organizer, Barbara Brandfon, was unable to make it Saturday because of an injury.  Get well, Barbara. 

Jude and Jack Brisson were floaters and Jack made sure everyone had a name tag.  Thank you, Jack.  Manning the electrical/mechanical table were Bob Wilson, John Leyden and Bryan Montgomery.  They were kept very busy with broken lamps and appliances.  Eleanor Vivaudou was our lone stalwart at the jewelry table, and  in addition to jewelry, changed a number of watch batteries.  April Chau, Julie Woodward and Chris Osborn met many interesting challenges at the sewing table, including turning a shirt collar and many moth holes. 

Henry Skutch and his grandmother Helen Ogrinz repaired several pieces of furniture, including an adorable children’s bench.  Hulya Sakarya and her son Noe Lebanidze took photos of repaired items, and generally helped out. 
A number of old computers, printers and phones were dropped off and delivered to Sam Nadol, a local high school student, who refurbishes them.  Then, an organization called Reboot PC  distributes them.  More on this later.

We are grateful to the Community Center staff for their help in setting up the room.  It’s a great space for the cafe.

The next Repair Cafe will be held May 4th.  This cafe will feature 

bicycle repair, and we hope to see a lot of bikes pulled out of garages and readied for fun!  Please pass the word about bicycles.

Submitted by Chris Osborn, Ossining Repair Cafe Organizer
Questions  may be emailed to Chris at ceosborn@optonline.net

---

Notes from our Saturday, October 14, 2023

Our first Green Ossining Repair Café “under new management.” 

Pictured: Michele Stone and Chris Osborn

A special thanks to Michele Stone and Glen Simonelli, who volunteered even as they were preparing to move in three days!   Michele was the original founder and coordinator of our Cafe, directing it for the past seven years. She and Glen are moving to Washington D.C. to be near a soon-to-arrive grandchild. We will miss them, and we wish them the best.

Pictured: Chris Osborn, Barbara Brandfon and Lee Deluccy

The new Cafe Coordinators are Barbara Brandfon and Elissa (Lee) DeLuccy, two long-time volunteers, and Chris Osborn, who only came in May to get her necklace fixed and was persuaded by Michele to take on the Cafe!

#wefixbelovedbutbrokenitems

@hvrepaircafe @repaircafehudsonvalley

Photo credit and an abundance of thanks to Hulya Sakarya!  (you can follow Hulya on Instagram at @hulikosakarya)

Notes from Saturday, September 17, 2022

• three chairs, mirror frame, eight watches for batteries, toaster oven, watch bands, vacuum, shade fixture, three lamps, microwave oven, bike brakes, wooden shelf, six necklaces, one pair of earrings, two pant patches, two shirt patches, reconstruct handles and side seams on bag, mend cashmere sweater, zipper removal and flap addition on sundress, pants seam, blanket, configured and upgraded two iphones, replaced mechanical assembly on clock, soldered cable on antique milkshake mixer, lamp switch, and received four recyclable laptops for our friends at RebootPC.

Our Next Repair Cafe, scheduled for Saturday March 12th,  is on!

Bring your beloved but broken items down to the Rec Center between 11a-3pm and see if one of our community-member repair coaches can fix it/them. See the poster for categories of currently repairable items.

*****************************

A word/reminder of how we got started:  Learning about Repair Cafes on Facebook, we were inspired by the idea of creating a community, among volunteers with fix-it skills and those with “beloved but broken” items in need of repair, a neighbor to neighbor venture! We launched the first Repair Cafe in Westchester County on June 24th, 2017.

We’re pleased to be returning on September 18, 2021!

Ringing in 2020! We welcome everyone to stop in to our upcoming Repair Cafes begining with our first one of the new year on January 11, 2020.

__________________________________________________________________

May 4, 2019 Thank you all for finishing out our Repair Cafe “season” with so much good heart and careful work. Some stats: 25 people signed in, 39 items were repaired, advised on or created!

• There was a mixing of repair coaches and items at the wood and electric tables, keeping Ken, Glenn, Mustafa, David, John, and Victor busy repairing: 5 lamps, 2 clocks, a turn table, 3 fans, bike tube, replaced castors on 2 oak desk chairs, kitchen chair, rebuilt hardwood chair, 2 dining room chairs, 2 wood office chairs, and a steel butter knife dish caddy.
• April, Janet and Marcia did meticulous and creative work at the sewing table, applying 4 patches on jeans in a quilting manner and altered 2 waistlines on pants.
• At the Kid’s Table, Jude guided kids to make a musical doorbell, parallel fans and a motorized walker.
• Virginia and Dave at the Computer table helped with a tablet the wouldn’t turn on and cleaned another, provided tech support number for a bad Kindle battery, taught how to configure a strong pass code, Password recovery for a laptop, taught people how to secure their devises.
• Karen repaired 8 necklaces and added a charm to a bracelet.
• Elissa, Barbara and Janice greeted, signed in and managed the waiting queues.

We also had the fortunate and honored experience of being part of a resident’s ‘road to confirmation.”  David (pictured here with Repair Coach extraordinare, Ken Skalski), fulfilled some of his High School community service hours with the Green Ossining Repair Cafe.   We saw such a transformation in his confidence from the first time he was with us.   What a pleasure for all. See you in September at our next Repair Cafe or sooner at some summer Ossining event!

On Saturday, January 12th, we held our first Repair Cafe of the year – ringing in the New Year with our largest attendance yet!

We had 51 people sign in with things, sometimes multiple things, to be repaired. Two groups visited with us to get ideas to start their own Repair Cafes, one from Hastings-on-Hudson and one from the Pound Ridge/Bedford area. Repair Coaches Frank, Ken, Glenn, Mustafa, Jim, Karen, Kate, April, Janet , Michele, Virginia, Dave and newcomers Lesley, David, Davis and Tom worked to repair:  ELECTRONICS ET AL: at least 12 lamps, 3 vacuums, electronic Christmas figures, soldered a bracelet and other metal work, toaster, heater, boombox, amplifier, radio, turntable, electric clock, 2 coffee pots, a blender; REPAIRED JEWELRY: fixed 4 necklaces/ 4 pair of earrings, 1 chain, 1 bracelet and 1 pendant; SEWING REPAIRS: tear in jacket, ripped lace, zipper, pants pocket, many small holes in sweaters,cuffs on sweatshirt , sweat pants, jacket holes, put darts in pants and affixed a button; COMPUTER REPAIRS: Taught someone how to maintain service and installed Google Duo, 2 units of Apple Pro, Mobile service screen broken, Samsung laptop, Removed unwanted start-up programs and other pop-ups, CD Ram cover off, Chrome logging issues with acct, Removed McAfee anti-virus, set up windows, 3 mobile phones.  Jude was so busy at the “Kid’s Table” with both youngsters and adults  Comments from attendees:

• “I’m so thrilled to have gotten my lamp fixed…Thank you.”
• “Frank did a great job soldering my broken garden ornament.”
• “The Repair Cafe is not only an exceptional resource, but a wonderful reflection of a vibrant community. On a practical level, our lamp and toaster now have a new lease on life!”
• “Excellent work! Keep up the good work.”
• “Great job by Mustafa. Fixed my lamp in 2 minutes.”
• “Excellent”
• “Thanks for help with my laptop and mending an antique lace pillow cover. You provide a valuable service for the community. Many, many thanks.”
• “Love the place!!! I wish I had a special skil to offer, but I’ll spread the word.”
• “This is an amazing place. Thank you for fixing my shopping care. And it’s  a fun place too.”
• “This was absolutely amazing! Thank you so much. Ireally appreciated all the caring attention to my light.”
• “This was so fun.”
• “Thank you for everything!!”

Some photos from the Cafe!  See you at our next Cafe’s on March 9th and May 11th

____________________________________________________________________________________

The Repair Cafe had a very successful 2018.  Below are scenes from Our November 10, 2018 Repair Cafe along  with the variety of items repaired.   In 2019, we hope to see you when we return on Saturday, January 12, 2019.  Same time. Same place.

Notes from the Cafe Our Kid’s Table was often busy and  Jude really engaged a couple of young people demonstrating in series and parallel circuits and used a 555 integrated circuit:) The Electrical Table kept four of our coaches, Frank, Ken, Glenn, Mustafa and one novice,David, joining us for community service, very busy. Repired were: a 3-way lamp, chest, vacuum, brass lamp, food processor, wood chipper (pretty impressive sound and dirt), Conair hair dryer, repaired travel case latch with silver solder (very excited recipient for that), colander repair, electric screw driver found to need batteries. Kate at the Jewelry Table gave advice on polishing, fixed 3 set of earrings, 1 necklace and one beaded bag. David and Mustafa at the Toy and Wood Table gave great effort to fixing a karaoke machine, sewing kit handle repair. Virginia, joined by a new volunteer, David, at the Computer Table: consulted on Ransomware, flash light, provided advice on setting up a wireless printer, looked at an issue with an upgrade from Windows & to Windows 10, recommended contact Microsoft for additional assistance, consult on security. April, Janet and Michele were kept busy at the Sewing  Table:  replaced 4 buttons, repaired 4 seams, leather and knit jacket seams, pillow cover, hems, backpack and bag.

From our Comment Notebook:

• “I am so happy they were able to fix my lamp.”
• “Very appreciative of all the help!!”
• “Thank you so much for all the organizers you were able to fix my daughter’s lunch bag, which I was going to put in the garbage already and a hair dryer. I am so happy and thankful.”   
• “Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.”
• “This event is a God send! Thank you for all your work for the earth.”
• “Thank you for offering this valuable service! You are able to save an old metal colander and my vacuum cleaner. I greatly appreciate your help.”
• “I am thrilled with the hard work and expertise of Michele and Frank. I am also grateful that they volunteer their time in order to enact actions that dovetail with our values!”
• “An antique brass lamp was taken apart and rewired by a team of repair geniuses.  A family heirloom restored to working order! Thanks!

##

Next Repair Cafe? Saturday, September 15th.

Hope to see you then!

(NOTE: Apologies for any we have inconvenienced, but we must postpone our EWaste Drive to a later date (tbd).)

Notes from our Repair Cafe : June 19, 2018

The Green Ossining Repair Cafe was honored by Westchester County Executive, George Latimer, with an Eco Award for our efforts to bring this program to our community.

Many thanks to our Repair Cafe coordinator, Michele Stone and husband Glenn Simonetti, for their efforts – and to all of ourRepairCafe coaches who have been givinging so freely of their time in sharing their skills to help fix “beloved but broken items.”  We are also very grateful to the Village of Ossining who saw the value in this program in our community and fully supported it. As well, with community partners in the Ossining Recreation Department for providing us the space to host the Cafe, Melrose Lumber for providing us parts at cost, and to First Village Coffee for keeping our coaches pleasantly caffeinated through our Cafe days.  Lastly, many thanks to the Repair Cafe – Hudson Valley and the guidance and support of John Wackman!

Notes from our Repair Cafe: May 19, 2018

Marvelous things happen at the Repair Cafe. A gentleman that lives in Holland (The Repair Cafe started not far away in Amsterdam) and was  visiting the states, sought us out for a visit to see how we do it here in the U.S. . Funny- we put him to work!    Then there was this lovely lady who heard about the Repair Cafe on @Ossining Padres Hispanos Facebook page … she was so appreciative that she came back and delivered warm fresh baked goods for the coaches and attendees.This month, knives were sharpened, family heirloom candlesticks were fixed, beloved stuffed animals were repaired, among so many other things. Don’t miss us when we re-open after the summer on Saturday, September 15th!

Notes from our Repair Cafe for our Launch year, 2017

In 2017, Green Ossining launched the first Repair Cafe in Westchester County.  This skill-sharing community gathering to fix beloved but broken items FOR FREE, begun in Europe over a decade ago, has joined our com

munity in a very special way.   Even kids got in on it and shared their toy-repair skills.   Our last one of 2017 combined the Repair Cafe with an E-Waste Drive.

In 2018, our next two will be held on Saturday,March 24th and May 19th from 11a-3pm at the Joseph Cavuto Community Center (aka Ossining Rec).

Check back for a list of items we hope our community repair coaches can tackle.  And stop in to see what its all about!

Notes from the Repair Cafe

On Saturday, January 12th, we held our first Repair Cafe of the year – ringing in the New Year with our largest attendance yet!

We had 51 people sign in with things, sometimes multiple things, to be repaired. Two groups visited with us to get ideas to start their own Repair Cafes, one from Hastings-on-Hudson and one from the Pound Ridge/Bedford area. Repair Coaches Frank, Ken, Glenn, Mustafa, Jim, Karen, Kate, April, Janet , Michele, Virginia, Dave and newcomers Lesley, David, Davis and Tom worked to repair:  ELECTRONICS ET AL: at least 12 lamps, 3 vacuums, electronic Christmas figures, soldered a bracelet and other metal work, toaster, heater, boombox, amplifier, radio, turntable, electric clock, 2 coffee pots, a blender; REPAIRED JEWELRY: fixed 4 necklaces/ 4 pair of earrings, 1 chain, 1 bracelet and 1 pendant; SEWING REPAIRS: tear in jacket, ripped lace, zipper, pants pocket, many small holes in sweaters,cuffs on sweatshirt , sweat pants, jacket holes, put darts in pants and affixed a button; COMPUTER REPAIRS: Taught someone how to maintain service and installed Google Duo, 2 units of Apple Pro, Mobile service screen broken, Samsung laptop, Removed unwanted start-up programs and other pop-ups, CD Ram cover off, Chrome logging issues with acct, Removed McAfee anti-virus, set up windows, 3 mobile phones.  Jude was so busy at the “Kid’s Table” with both youngsters and adults  Comments from attendees:

• “I’m so thrilled to have gotten my lamp fixed…Thank you.”
• “Frank did a great job soldering my broken garden ornament.”
• “The Repair Cafe is not only an exceptional resource, but a wonderful reflection of a vibrant community. On a practical level, our lamp and toaster now have a new lease on life!”
• “Excellent work! Keep up the good work.”
• “Great job by Mustafa. Fixed my lamp in 2 minutes.”
• “Excellent”
• “Thanks for help with my laptop and mending an antique lace pillow cover. You provide a valuable service for the community. Many, many thanks.”
• “Love the place!!! I wish I had a special skil to offer, but I’ll spread the word.”
• “This is an amazing place. Thank you for fixing my shopping care. And it’s  a fun place too.”
• “This was absolutely amazing! Thank you so much. Ireally appreciated all the caring attention to my light.”
• “This was so fun.”
• “Thank you for everything!!”

Some photos from the Cafe!  See you at our next Cafe’s on March 9th and May 11th

____________________________________________________________________________________

The Repair Cafe had a very successful 2018.  Below are scenes from Our November 10, 2018 Repair Cafe along  with the variety of items repaired.   In 2019, we hope to see you when we return on Saturday, January 12, 2019.  Same time. Same place.

Notes from the Cafe Our Kid’s Table was often busy and  Jude really engaged a couple of young people demonstrating in series and parallel circuits and used a 555 integrated circuit:) The Electrical Table kept four of our coaches, Frank, Ken, Glenn, Mustafa and one novice,David, joining us for community service, very busy. Repired were: a 3-way lamp, chest, vacuum, brass lamp, food processor, wood chipper (pretty impressive sound and dirt), Conair hair dryer, repaired travel case latch with silver solder (very excited recipient for that), colander repair, electric screw driver found to need batteries. Kate at the Jewelry Table gave advice on polishing, fixed 3 set of earrings, 1 necklace and one beaded bag. David and Mustafa at the Toy and Wood Table gave great effort to fixing a karaoke machine, sewing kit handle repair. Virginia, joined by a new volunteer, David, at the Computer Table: consulted on Ransomware, flash light, provided advice on setting up a wireless printer, looked at an issue with an upgrade from Windows & to Windows 10, recommended contact Microsoft for additional assistance, consult on security. April, Janet and Michele were kept busy at the Sewing  Table:  replaced 4 buttons, repaired 4 seams, leather and knit jacket seams, pillow cover, hems, backpack and bag.

From our Comment Notebook:

• “I am so happy they were able to fix my lamp.”
• “Very appreciative of all the help!!”
• “Thank you so much for all the organizers you were able to fix my daughter’s lunch bag, which I was going to put in the garbage already and a hair dryer. I am so happy and thankful.”   
• “Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.”
• “This event is a God send! Thank you for all your work for the earth.”
• “Thank you for offering this valuable service! You are able to save an old metal colander and my vacuum cleaner. I greatly appreciate your help.”
• “I am thrilled with the hard work and expertise of Michele and Frank. I am also grateful that they volunteer their time in order to enact actions that dovetail with our values!”
• “An antique brass lamp was taken apart and rewired by a team of repair geniuses.  A family heirloom restored to working order! Thanks!

##

Next Repair Cafe? Saturday, September 15th.

Hope to see you then!

(NOTE: Apologies for any we have inconvenienced, but we must postpone our EWaste Drive to a later date (tbd).)

Notes from our Repair Cafe : June 19, 2018

The Green Ossining Repair Cafe was honored by Westchester County Executive, George Latimer, with an Eco Award for our efforts to bring this program to our community.

Many thanks to our Repair Cafe coordinator, Michele Stone and husband Glenn Simonetti, for their efforts – and to all of ourRepairCafe coaches who have been givinging so freely of their time in sharing their skills to help fix “beloved but broken items.”  We are also very grateful to the Village of Ossining who saw the value in this program in our community and fully supported it. As well, with community partners in the Ossining Recreation Department for providing us the space to host the Cafe, Melrose Lumber for providing us parts at cost, and to First Village Coffee for keeping our coaches pleasantly caffeinated through our Cafe days.  Lastly, many thanks to the Repair Cafe – Hudson Valley and the guidance and support of John Wackman!

Notes from our Repair Cafe: May 19, 2018

Marvelous things happen at the Repair Cafe. A gentleman that lives in Holland (The Repair Cafe started not far away in Amsterdam) and was  visiting the states, sought us out for a visit to see how we do it here in the U.S. . Funny- we put him to work!    Then there was this lovely lady who heard about the Repair Cafe on @Ossining Padres Hispanos Facebook page … she was so appreciative that she came back and delivered warm fresh baked goods for the coaches and attendees.This month, knives were sharpened, family heirloom candlesticks were fixed, beloved stuffed animals were repaired, among so many other things. Don’t miss us when we re-open after the summer on Saturday, September 15th!

Notes from our Repair Cafe for our Launch year, 2017

In 2017, Green Ossining launched the first Repair Cafe in Westchester County.  This skill-sharing community gathering to fix beloved but broken items FOR FREE, begun in Europe over a decade ago, has joined our com

munity in a very special way.   Even kids got in on it and shared their toy-repair skills.   Our last one of 2017 combined the Repair Cafe with an E-Waste Drive.

In 2018, our next two will be held on Saturday,March 24th and May 19th from 11a-3pm at the Joseph Cavuto Community Center (aka Ossining Rec).

Check back for a list of items we hope our community repair coaches can tackle.  And stop in to see what its all about!