Hello everyone,
The Wayne County Mini Maker Faire is a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making and share what they are learning. Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters to homesteaders to scientists to garage tinkerers. They are of all ages and backgrounds. The aim of Maker Faire is to entertain, inform, connect and grow this community.
The Daily Record said it best: “Dubbed the ‘Greatest Show and Tell on Earth’; over 1,200 people flocked to the third annual faire at the University of Akron Wayne College last May. It was a fresh experience with favorite makers from last year coming back along with new makers and new things to see and do.
Fantasticon is a mid-size show in Toledo, Ohio, created for true comic book and pop culture collectors and fans. The fans that come to its shows are true collectors that are looking for those rare items for their personal collections. Most leave very satisfied as the event prides itself on having great dealers and artists at our shows. If you collect it, you will find it at a Fantasticon show.
If you’ve seen R2D2 of Star Wars fame rolling about the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire these past three years, you’ve seen the work of Kody Greene! He is interested in building movie props from Star Wars and Marvel movies, robotic replicas, and 3D printing. Kody was interviewed at Fantasticon on NBC 24. Check-out this great interview! (Facebook required)
We are proud to showcase Ohio makers participating in the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire. One of these people is Sarah Mullins. Sarah is a mother of two who enjoys sewing in her spare time. As a child, she was taught how to sew by her grandmothers. In recent years, Sarah has started sewing for herself and her children.
Sarah sews clothing and other items using a regular sewing machine and a serger. At the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire, she demonstrated hand embroidery using burlap in a small embroidery hoop. She also provided plastic needles with pre-cut yarn for young learners for young learners.
Another group that participated in the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire is the Wooster Christian School Art Club. Their booth had examples of art, math, recycling, pendulum painting with sand, 3D painting, recycling sculptures, and “make & take” projects for attendees to build themselves. There was something for everyone!
Using recycled milk cartons, faire attendees created their own bird houses or other objects. WCS also had 3-D glasses available so attendees properly viewed the artwork their students had on display.
Rounding out our participating makers is Bradley Howell of “Gear Time”. As a kid, he was always taking things apart to see why they didn’t work and if he could, repair them. Bradley’s father-in-law gave him an antique mantel clock (100 years old) which needed repair and he was totally impressed with the technology that was required to make it. Bradley started collecting and repairing them and never looked back.
He is currently the Vice President of the North Coast Chapter 28 of the NAWCC, National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors. Bradley has always been a history buff and have found that, part of the fun of clock repair is the research. Researching an antique clock is actually a study in the history of manufacturing in America.
The objective of “Gear Time” is to demonstrate basic tools and reveal age-old practices needed to fix wind-up gear-driven vintage timepieces. At the Wayne County Mini Maker Faire, Bradley freely shared information on how best to explore this challenging early technology. He talking about the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math skills that were required to design, build and repair early American brass clock movements. A working 19th Century clock with exposed movement was on display as well as an assortment of tools. There were examples of different types of clock movements available for “hands on” exploration, too.
If you would like to know more about Sarah’s sewed creations, the Wooster Christian School Art Club, or Bradley’s antique clocks, please reply to this email!
Until next week,
Tom