Sue Yarbrough had been looking for five years for someone to sharpen her garden shears. She tried hardware stores, metal shops. Everyone turned her away.
“I had given up on them,” the Vancouver woman said. “I was about to throw them in the garbage.”
But then she heard about the Repair Café. Volunteer fixers come together to repair stuff for other people for free. The stuff needing fixing can range from shirts missing buttons and radios that don’t play music to lamps that don’t illuminate and garden shears that have lost their edge.
So, with fingers crossed, Yarbrough lugged her shears into the Vancouver Community Library on Thursday evening. There, she found Grant Hatton, an amateur bladesmith. Within a few minutes, the shears were sharpened and Yarbrough was smiling.
“This guy is amazing,” Yarbrough gushed about Hatton. “It was so fun to watch him work.”
Yarbrough was one of dozens of people who attended the Repair Café with items needing fixing, and Hatton was one of about 20 fixers using their skills to help others. Thursday marked the second Repair Café, and organizers have two more planned this year.
“The whole goal is to keep good stuff out of the landfill,” said Julie Gilbertson, a solid waste analyst for Vancouver Public Works. “A lot of times, things just need a simple fix.”
Vancouver Public Works and Clark County Public Health teamed up with a handful of local organizations — Habitat for Humanity Store, Columbia Springs, Filbin’s Ace Hardware, Vancouver Community Library, hOur Impact and Waste Connections — to launch the Repair Café earlier this year. The events have to date only been publicized through social media and Nextdoor websites. But as word spreads, turnout has grown.
At the first event in March, 26 volunteers repaired 36 items. On Thursday, 19 volunteers repaired 92 items. More than 100 people have signed up to be volunteer fixers, offering skills in sewing, small appliance repair, electronics, bicycles and knife/tool sharpening. Hatton heard about the event through a friend. The event needed volunteers to sharpen tools, so Hatton signed up.
“It’s fun,” Hatton said. “It’s nice to have a competency in something and to share it.”
Hatton’s skills were the most in-demand at Thursday’s event. Twenty-five items passed through the tool/knife sharpening station. Electronics repairs were the next most popular, followed by sewing/knitting fixes.
Dawn Edmundson of Vancouver has been sewing for 20 years, so when she heard about Repair Café on Facebook, she signed up.
“I think it’s a really great idea to cut back on waste,” Edmundson said. “I’m really happy to help people save their loved clothes.”
Vancouver resident Bonnie Prange was among those whose clothes were saved by Edmundson. Prange purchased an orange fleece jacket while in Chicago about 10 years ago. Two years ago, the zipper broke.
Prange bought a replacement zipper but didn’t have any way to replace it. So, for two years, the zipper was tucked away in the pocket. On Thursday, Edmundson made the swap.
“This is just great,” Prange said. “I’m getting my coat back and all it cost me was a replacement zipper. All thanks to Dawn.”
“It’s a great public service,” she added.
