By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Neighbor helping neighbor takes on a new meaning at the Bowling Green Repair Café.
A week ago a half dozen people were standing by at the Maumee Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation ready to assist others find a way to fix-something rather than toss it out.
Margaret Montague said her DVD player just stopped turning on. “Before I disposed of it I wanted to see if it was fixable,” she said. She expects it would cost more to replace than repair.
“We’re disinclined to throw things away,” her husband, David Montague, said.
Mike Rainey-Smithback was intent on figuring out the problem. It appeared , he said, it needed a part, which he didn’t have. Also, he didn’t have the soldering equipment. But the Montagues now knew the extent of the problem and what was needed to repair it.
The idea of the Repair Café is to encourage people to repair household items, clothing, appliances, bicycles and such rather than shipping them to the landfill, according to Jennifer Karches, who founded the BG chapter of the international initiative.
The Repair Café BG got its start back in 2019, and then after a couple events, a cancellation because of a snow storm, the effort was put on hold because of the pandemic. This was the second one this year.
Jeanne Langendorfer was on her second job of the day. She specializes in fabric repairs, which so far have proven the most popular at the BG cafés.
Her first job of the afternoon, though, was a woman who had a problem with her sewing machine. The bobbin carrier had popped out and she couldn’t get it reattached.
Langendorfer and bike technician Chris Benge had figured out it needed a spring, and he located one on the internet.
Now Langendorfer was at work mending a car seat cover for Ken Gutbrod. “Jeanne’s doing a super job taking care of it,” he said.
The seat fabric is in good shape, but it had worn away around the opening for the seat belt, so Langendorfer was fashioning a new more sturdy opening.
“I expect another 20 years from it,” Gutbrod said.
Unlike a shop where the item is dropped off and left for repair. Here the volunteer repair folk have an audience.
Benge admitted that could be a little nerve wracking. He didn’t want to just come out and say he was stumped.
Carmen and Juan Ortega had brought in their 15-year-old son’s bicycle.
He was having a problem shifting gears as well as a broken his kick stand.
Benge got the kick stand taken care of, but the gear shift was proving more difficult. “It’s throwing me for a loop,” Benge said. He gotten the bike to shift smoothly going up but going down “it’s being really, really squirrelly.
Benge is not, he said, a certified bicycle mechanic, but he worked part-time for two years with BGSU’s bike rental program. He estimates he’s worked on about 800 bicycles. It was through that BGSU connection that he got recruited for the Repair Café.
“Pretty convenient don’t know many places to get your bike fixed,” Juan Ortega said.
The repairs are free, though any materials not provided cost extra.
Karches said she wasn’t sure when or where the next event would be. Coordinating the schedules of the two dozen or so volunteers who provide the services is a challenge.
Still, like a well-worn seat cover or wonky DVD player, Repair Café merits keeping around.
