It’s a Wrap! Wayne County Mini Maker Faire 2019

Hello everyone,

After a rainy Friday night and early Saturday morning, the clouds parted and warm, sunny weather prevailed when the doors opened at 10:00 a.m.  What a perfect day for the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire!  A great day was had by all.  Over 1,100 attendees, makers, and volunteers came together at this year’s event.  The building and grounds were packed with techies and non-techies alike into the world of being creators.

This year’s Maker Faire was a gleeful public displays of innovation and do-it-yourself inventiveness, a celebration of “making” in our culture.  Maker Faire creates opportunities for conversations with makers. Tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, authors, artists, students, and entrepreneurs all come together to show their projects and to talk about what they have learned. It is a community-based event that inspires everyone to become a maker and connect with people and projects in their local community.

Village Catering Company provided wonderful meals for attendees and makers alike.  Hartzler Dairy brought their famous ice cream which was a hit, and Wayne College student organizations provided concessions.

Kids had a blast with the Ventrac Kid Zone.  Lots of little tikes (and some adults) walked around with beautiful face painting, balloon animal hats, caricatures, and wore themselves out with the Fun Fitness Obstacle Course. 

A special thanks to our 70+ volunteers who helped at this year’s event.  There is no way we could have done this without you!  A big “thank you” to Chris Dreher for organizing our volunteers.  Also thanks to our “maker presenters” who gave interesting talks at the Presentation Tent. 

Schantz Makerspace played an important part of the event with their contribution to the ever-popular Kid Zone, Belt Sander Drag Race, the beloved band organ, and inviting their makerspace members to participate as makers.  Many thanks for their continued support.

Most especially, thanks to all of our makers who took the time to prepare a booth and interact with hundreds of people all day long.  Without the efforts and generosity of our makers, the Maker Faire would not be possible!  We are proud to host a diverse community of creative, inventive, yet beyond all, friendly people.

Note, if you took photos of the event, please consider sharing them for our community blog!  Please email your photos to tjh1@uakron.edu

Thanks again for a truly incredible event! 

Tom