REVIVE and THRIVE!

Should I toss out my broken items? No way! Instead, come out for SCARCE’s 4th Repair Fair! Experts will be on-site to perform simple repairs on household items. Stop by this free event to see how a simple and affordable repair can make treasured items feel like new!

Repair experts will be onsite to help with:

Kitchen Knife Sharpening: Straight edge and serrated knives (limit 2 per household unless time permits for more)

Scissor Sharpening: Fabric scissors , kitchen scissors, utility scissors, & flat back hair shears. No hollow ground hair shears or clipper blades please (limit 2 per household unless time permits for more).

Costume Jewelry Repair/Modifications: Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, clasps, chains (fix or shorten/lengthen), and more! Restringing might need to be performed offsite. No watches or rings please.

Crystal, Glassware, & Porcelain Repair: Broken or chipped glassware (glass, crystal, china, porcelain, pottery, etc.). Glue and bonding jobs can be performed onsite. Any chipped items, or other items that require grinding, can be dropped off at the event and picked up at a later date.

Lamp & Light Fixture Repair: Safety inspections, rewiring, replacement switches, other small aesthetic modifications.

Household Appliances and Electronics Repair: Small appliances, vacuum cleaners, radios, audio equipment, etc. No sewing machines, no TV’s, no computers, and no printers please.

FAQ’s

When is it?

Saturday, October 26, 2024 from 9am-noon

Where is it?

The Repair Fair will take place in the Education Center of SCARCE’s facility located at 800 S Rohlwing Rd (Rt 53), Addison, IL 60101. Please enter through the doors on the north side of the parking lot under the blue SCARCE sign.

What can I do if there is a wait?

You can browse our onsite SCARCE-LY Used Books & Records Resale Shop, open to the public and perfect for all ages! We have books, records, holiday items, crafting supplies, puzzles, activities, and more.

How much does it cost?

The event is free but there will be a small fee for repairs. Cash is strongly encouraged. Other forms of payment will be accepted at the discretion of each vendor.

Do I need to sign up ahead of time?

Items will be evaluated and repaired on a first-come first-serve basis.

What if they can’t fix my item?

If a vendor is unable to fix an item onsite for any reason, they might ask you to leave the item with them to be completed and returned to you at an agreed upon date.

Meet our Repair Specialists!

Grant Lauinger, Knife & Scissor Sharpening – Grant is the founder of Custom Edge Sharpening, a professional sharpening service in Glen Ellyn. He realized his passion for sharpening 10 years ago when, as a woodworker, he needed sharp tools to do his projects well. He began studying and learning the art of sharpening under the tutelage of some of the best sharpeners in the country. As he developed his technique and honed his craft,  he started to invest in more and better equipment, and extended his sharpening skills to kitchen, lawn, and garden tools. Nowadays he is proud to use all of his knowledge and skill to make people’s knives and tools look great and cut at the highest level possible. Visit www.customedgesharpening.com to learn more.

Lisa King, Jewelry Repair – Lisa King has been designing and creating jewelry and other adornments for more than 25 years. She particularly enjoys refurbishing vintage jewelry, wire wrapping & weaving, and cleaning & repairing the jewelry sold at SCARCE. Her newest passion is permanent jewelry! You can learn more about her permanent jewelry parties and pop-ups at www.alwayslinked2.com.

Mary Lou Gates, Crystal Repair – Mary Lou Gates of Mary Lou’s Crystal Repair in Joliet has been fixing chips, cracks, and breaks of people’s crystal, china, and porcelain for 55 years — 40 of them at The Little Traveler in Geneva. For 30 years, she and her husband made their living by traveling in a motor home to antique shows all over Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Eventually they were included at mall department stores such as Carson’s, Bonwit Teller, Yonkers and Bergner’s — and at shopping malls throughput the western suburbs of Chicago. Mary Lou started repairing glassware in her parents’ Joliet antique shop as a teenager. 50 years later, she is now in her 70’s and has no plans to hang up her grinder any time soon. For inquiries about repairs, Mary Lou can be reached at (815) 726-5554.

Dave Harms, Lamp/Light Fixture Repair – Dave is a retired electrical engineer and former professor of engineering at the University of Minnesota. Over the course of his career he has worked at: IBM, Bell Laboratories, Ace Hardware, and Carlson True Value Hardware. He also designed safety systems for the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. Nowadays he puts his expertise to good use by repairing lamps at Jubilee Furniture in Lombard.

Joe Wiesenfelder, Household Appliances and Electronics Repair — Joe’s near-pathological distaste for wasting anything dovetails nicely with a lifelong habit of taking things apart, which is often the first step in repairing them, as he has done successfully for decades, including many years as a volunteer at the Oak Park Repair Cafe. Joe has repaired everything from a century-old fortune-teller automaton to the latest audio gear. Already versed in many disciplines, Joe is now pursuing certification as an electronics technician. 

This event is made possible with generous support from the DuPage Foundation. If you’d like to support community events like this one, consider making a donation to SCARCE at www.scarce.org/donate. If you would like to be involved as a repair-person for this event (or future events), please email Emily at [email protected] for more information.