Columbia NORTHEAST (NE)

The ColumbiaNE Repair Cafe emerged as a project of the New Lebanon Climate Smart Communities Task Force in the summer of 2021. We quickly connected via Zero Waste Columbia to other CSC groups in Chatham and Austerlitz which were also planning Repair Cafe events. From there the collaboration quickly expanded to include the village of East Nassau, in the eastern part of neighboring Rensselaer County, and as of 2025 we have expanded to include the town of Canaan. We were lucky during our first three years to have the support and participation of Timothy Furstnau, of the Tool Shed Exchange and Lending Library in Hudson NY. He has since left our group to start a repair cafe across the river.

Now 3 1/2 years old, we have staged four major events each year, one in each town, along with assorted popups at town libraries and farmers' markets. One of our most successful events included a team of high school students from the Darrow School in New Lebanon. We always welcome new volunteers, whether as fixers, aka repair coaches or experts, general volunteers for our events, or organizers who can commit to monthly meetings. Our 2025 calendar will have at least five events, one in each town: March 29 at the Spencertown Town Hall in Austerlitz; May 10 at the New Lebanon Community Center; late June (date tbd) on Canaan Day at the Canaan Town Hall; tentatively September 27th at the East Chatham Firehouse (but this may change) and November 8 at Hoags Corner Firehouse in East Nassau. Please come visit us, with or without a repair. 

We have a strong bench of talented and generous fixers who have fixed well over 1000 repairs and consultations, with an 82% success rate! Items ranged from the old (a 1938 toaster and several 19th century mantel clocks) to the new (a 3D printer), from the practical (the strap of a horse blanket and more than one backpack) to the exotic and decorative (a glass whale and a wooden pipe from the Middle East). We also fix bikes, sharpen knives, repair lamps, give gardening advice, glue ceramics and wood and plastic, as well as wooden furniture from chairs to chests to trays. Our textile and fiber fixers can knit, darn, crochet, hand sew and sew on a machine, whether you need a patch or a seam. (If you need a zipper, please bring your own and remove the broken zipper first).  We even repair lawn mowers and tune up sewing machines and we are working to get some younger people involved and to expand our tech section.

Our group’s mantra is “It will be great!” And it always is. Not only do we all have a good time catching up with or getting to know our neighbors, but we love keeping things with some life left in them out of the landfill. We’re happy as organizers to see satisfied visitors; our fixers love fixing things; our visitors are ecstatic. We hope you’ll come see us. 

To find updates, visit us here or on our Facebook page. Instagram account coming soon! Or email us at ColumbiaNERepairCafe@gmail.com. 

LocationS

The ColumbiaNE Repair Cafe is a collaboration between fire different municipalities and rotates between the following locations. Please see the calendar or the ‘next’ button below for the location of our next event.

AUSTERLITZ
CANAAN
CHATHAM
EAST NASSAU
NEW LEBANON

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