Basic crochet and knitting instruction, proper use of kitchen knives, and bicycle maintenance and repair are just a few of the many skills highlighted at the third annual Silver Spring Timebank Skills Share and Repair Café held Feb. 10 at the Silver Spring Civic Building.

The free event, open to the public, featured talks and demonstrations by timebank members, as well as opportunities to ask questions and to have small items repaired. Talks on green living, gardening, food preparation, and social media marketing were very popular.

In addition, Dale Brown gave helpful tips on how to find new homes for things you no longer want, as she described creative ways to do this beyond donating to a generic charity.

Other talks included Edward Constable, an experienced home cook, who shared knife skills and tips, with a reminder to keep your knives sharp. He advised, “Sharp knives slice food, but dull knives are the ones that cut fingers.” A talk on art journaling for your health by Madeline Caliendo also included useful information.

At one repair table, Karl Kosok, aka Mr. Fixit, repaired an heirloom lamp for Karen Onthank—it was a lamp she had received from her grandparents when she went away to college. She said, “It is wonderful to be able to use the lamp again because it has such good memories.”

At other tables, Tanya DeKona helped visitors with pottery repair for several types of items; Fricka Ling answered diverse questions about bicycle repair and offered tips on where to ride in the metropolitan area; Simon Mauk, who also can do book repair, gave advice on furniture repair; and Jennifer Okosun, director of a babysitting service that goes onsite for special events, offered suggestions for successful babysitting.

Eleni Barber, a licensed social worker, was helpful to quite a few people seeking information about elder care. She said, “This is a unique opportunity for other people to get free advice on elder care. It is also very satisfying to me to share my skills and to make connections with the people I meet here.”

Other areas where attendees could find expert advice were houseplant care with Lisa Jacobson, and how to make sauerkraut in your home kitchen by Linda Andrews.

SSTB is a timebank in which people exchange their services for hours of credit that are “banked” so they can use the credit later for other services they may need. No cash is exchanged. In addition to the website linked to above, more information about the timebank can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Guest post by Donna Sasser. Photos by Saunya Connelly. Photo above, Tanya DeKona at her repair table on fixing pottery.