NEDERLAND - “It’s just confidence,” said Mike Techentin, one of the eight coaches who volunteered their time on a frigid, snowy Saturday, January 25, 2025, for the very first Nederland Repair Café (NRC). 

Techentin, who signed up as a coach with a background in 3D printing, soldering, diagnostics, mechanical work, and woodworking, was agreeing with fellow coach Philip Skentelbery’s assessment about that first essential step in tackling do-it-yourself repairs.  

“Sometimes people aren’t comfortable opening things up—and really, it just takes someone with perhaps a little over-confidence to say ‘Oh, I can do that,’ ” Skentelbery said. 

From noon to 3 p.m., Techentin and the other coaches, led by the event’s creator and coordinator Anne De Jager, lent their expertise to 18 items in need of repair brought in by members of the Nederland community.  

“We fixed a lava lamp, several kitchen appliances, an electric miter saw, a laptop, a vintage cassette player, several lamps, an air purifier, and other things that would have otherwise been garbage,” the NRC’s official Facebook page posted the day after the successful event.

For the attendees of this free event, each item held some sort of pragmatic or sentimental value, and most required creative solutions for what ailed them.

Luckily, if the owners of these items felt any apprehension about removing a few screws and getting their hands into the innards of these often beloved household items, the café coaches were there with their experience in a multitude of proficiencies.

“The lava lamp was a bit of a puzzle,” Skentelbery said, explaining how the interior bulb had died, that the connection had corroded, and that it required just a little bit of cleaning. 

The drawer of the vintage tape deck wouldn’t open; coaches opened it up, cleaned it out, and greased the gears to get it working again. 

Techentin, with access to a wide selection of tools and miscellaneous replacement parts, many of which were supplied by De Jager, helped run a diagnostic on a personal laptop, as well as on a one-of-a-kind homemade ceramic clock. 

Most of the coaches brought their own tools from home, including Peter Kahn, who has been woodworking since he was five years old. Kahn helped by supplying the wooden dowel that he whittled down to size in order to replace the safety switch of a Craftsman professional miter saw in order to get the blade spinning again.

Kevin Maris, with experience in repairing computers, laptops, and other small electronics, helped to solve the power issue on a resident’s much-loved pressure cooker.

Maris and De Jager together attempted to solve the mystery of what was plaguing a small plastic hand kitchen mixer. Unfortunately, just opening the device to diagnose it proved to be a mechanical conundrum.

Coach Kevin Turner also encountered some kitchen equipment in need of cleaning and greasing. Three different stand mixers were brought to Turner, who comes from a background in bicycle repair. 

“I received my Cuisinart and Kitchen-Aid training today,” Turner joked. “I wouldn’t say I’m fully certified yet, but you can consider me a junior apprentice.”

 Melody Baumhover, with help from fellow coach Ian Hill and many others, worked to solve the issue of a busted hinge on a laptop screen.  

After much deliberation, with the entire laptop disassembled on the table before them, the coaches managed to reassemble the laptop and replace the hinge with a couple of wood screws. 

“It took multiple heads coming together to come up with a strategy, but it works—the Franken-laptop works!” Baumhover excitedly effervesced as she handed the working laptop back to its overjoyed owner.

Of the 18 items brought in by the community, 15 were successfully repaired and saved from the landfill, with several attendees getting their hands dirty and walking away feeling a little more confident in their self-sufficiency.  

“If we had any doubts whether this concept would be feasible in Ned, they're gone now!” The NRC’s social media post reads. “It was impressive to see what an amazingly skilled community we have here, and how useful it has turned out to be. And it was so much fun!”

As for when, and how often, the NRC plans to return, De Jager and the team are confident that this event will not be a one-time occurrence.

“We had a good showing, even with all the snow, so there seems to be a lot of interest in the community for it,” De Jager said, adding, “We’ll have to see how it goes” regarding another café.

Let’s hope that those of us with clothes that need mending, computers that need analyzing, power tools that need adjusting, or daily appliances that need fixing, won’t have to wait too long.

A very special thanks to De Jager and the NRC team, including the coaches and volunteers Judi Anderson and Craig and Patti VanSandt for their incredible work on putting together this successful event. 

For those with expertise who wish to volunteer for the next Nederland Repair Café, or if you have something  in need of repair and would like to register in advance, go to: https://repair.nerder.land.