Roundup: West County Fixers
The local treasures who are willing and able to fix your treasure
Inclement weather sent the West County Fix-it Fair inside the El Molino Gym in Forestville. Sponsored by the Russian River Rotary and organized by Steve Griffith, West County Fix-it Fair brought together people who can repair all kinds of things and those who have things that are in need of repair.
Sammy Nasr - Ceramics, Glass and Wood
Sammy Nasr said he learned over many years just by making lots of repairs. Asked what his secret is, he said “adhesives.” He was fixing cracks in the straps of a handbag, wrapping them in masking tape.
Celia Furber: Recology
Celia Furber works for Recology at Community Relations and Sustainability Manager. She was at the Fair to promote recycling and composting. I asked her about recycling blue bins and whether the plastic bottles, glass jars and newspapers get recycled because I have heard that they not much is really recycled. “I’m here to counter common myths like that,” said Celia.
Celia said that it might have been true for a while that things weren’t getting recycled after China stopped accepting anything from the U.S. except cardboard in 2018. However, a couple years ago Recology built its own $35M recycling facility in Santa Rosa and recycled items are now processed locally rather than shipped elsewhere. “We get 400 tons a day from blue-bin recycling and 85% of it actually gets recycled,” said Celia. Not everything that people put in their blue bin belongs there, however. “This community does try really hard to recycle,” she said.
Geek Girl: Computers
Jamie of Guerneville’s Geek Girl PC Repair came to answer questions about computers and she was examining a laptop that someone brought in, assisted by her husband. David. Both Jamie and David work in the IT departments of local banks. For about fifteen years, Geek Girl has been a side business for Jamie. I asked her how she learned to do it and she said: “My mother moved us from Orange County to Calistoga and I had nothing to do.” She taught herself.
Some common complaints are that a computer or laptop is running slow or might be infected with a virus or malware. David said that some people are attached to old computers and don’t want to upgrade their computer from 1995. I asked Jamie if she had to deal with privacy and security issues. “Yes,” Jamie said. “I have people who have no fear of being all online and I have those who are afraid to be on the Internet.”
Karin & Melinda: Sewing
Karin Lease was moving belt loops on a man’s robe. She explained that he was a tall man and the robe didn’t fit him comfortably. She hoped to change that. Nearby, Melinda, who brought her sewing machine from home, was sewing the hem on a pair of jeans that a man had brought in.
Tyler Haen: Metal Fabrication
Sitting outside under an awning, Tyler Haen was happily kept busy fixing all kinds of things. He’s a fabricator who lives in Sebastopol and works at Coppola Winery. He repaired the metal case of a cherished old thermostat that a woman brought in. She pointed out the three-digit phone number on the dial, and thought the gauge might be a hundred years old.
Nearby, Andrew was welding a plow implement.
Later, Tyler was working on a lawn mower that wouldn’t start.
Hillel Posner: Woodworking
Hillel Posner brought his tools and portable workbench and set up outside with a few other people to do woodworking repairs. For an hour or so, they were fixing a set of bar stools and then they fixed a very small, antique foot stool.
John and Josue: Knife Sharpening
A former chef, John Norman has a knife rental and sharpening business, Chef’s Sharpening. He provides knives to restaurants and then replaces them with sharp knives on a periodic basis. Depending on the restaurant, he might exchange dull knives for sharp ones on a weekly or monthly schedule. How often should one get one’s knives sharped at home? “Quarterly, if you use them a lot,” said John whose business is mobile and provides sharpening services by appointment. “I come to you,” he said. John was assisted by Josue Aguilar who is a chef but also works with John.
Dan Woloz: Bike Repair
Dan Woloz used to run a bike shop but now he runs a farm, Four Oak Farm in Santa Rosa. The blue bike he was working on was fairly new and just needed some adjustments. “This bike was probably bought during Covid when a lot of people bought bikes online and had to assemble them at home,” he said. “It’s harder than it looks to get it right.”
Bob, a retiree, was also cleaning and fixing a bike. “This one was left out in the rain,” he said, adding that “bikes like to be indoors.”
Paul Draper: Tools of the Trade
Paul was working on a red air fryer that no longer would turn on. He took out numerous screws but it was actually hard to open this egg-like case to be able to look inside.
Next to Paul was a metal Craftsman toolbox that his parents gave to him when he was sixteen. From an early age, he knew he was “hard-wired” to do this kind of work but he had trouble explaining that to his parents, who expected him to go to college. When they gave him the toolbox as a birthday present, it was a sign that they were beginning to understand that he would follow a different road, one that led him into the construction trades and high-end home-building. The toolbox is old, and a bit rusty, but Paul refuses to exchange it for a newer one.
All photos by Dale Dougherty
The Week of April 6-13
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