Positive Spin needs a few good volunteers this *Saturday, 10:30am - 1:30pm*. Contact me if you are interested. If you are a WVU student you can count volunteer hours with the WVU CS&L program (iServe). Note - Positive Spin will maintain its normal shop hours of 1-5pm.
*What?* Morgantown Municipal Green Team and Morgantown Farmers Market have teamed up to host the first ever Green Households Resource Fair to coincide with the last Winter Farmers Market. "Positive Spin will provide valet bike parking (tips welcome) near the High Street entrance to the Farmers Market church’s gymnasium, while you visit the fair, Positive Spin volunteers will also be available to discuss bike repair, maintenance, and riding safety." [Flyer is attached to this email.]
*Where?* Wesley United Methodist Church http://goo.gl/maps/qEtyv 503 N. High Street, Downstairs Gymnasium (side door).
*Volunteer roles?*
1. Bicycle Valet - Since it is a holiday weekend, turnout most likely will be low, so instead of bringing our bicycle event racks, bicycles will be carefully leaned against the wall adjacent to the entrance and vigilantly monitored. Identification tags will be utilized, and flyers about Positive Spin will be handed out. About 1-2 volunteers should sufficient.
2. Repair Demo/Educational Table - We are being provided space on a table and/or the stage. Given that the event only runs for two hours, every volunteer may want to focus on one area of repair interest. As an example my strategy will be demostrating how to repair bicycle tubes, and I will encourage fair participants to try it out themselves. Also, I want to point out that reusing bicycle tubes really fits well into the objectives of the fair which is about living sustainably (see my discussion about tube repair below).
*How much we can accomplish in this short time frame will be determined by the number of partipants at the fair, and the number of volunteers from Positive Spin, so please contact me if you are interested!*
*Why recycle a tube? *When it comes to the bicycle, the wheel is where the majority of repairs occur, and of those repairs, the one you will personally end up experiencing the most will concern fixing flats.
Ofcourse, from there on you can climb up the ladder of skills in regards to wheels, which include, spoke replacements, truing, fixing axels, replacing cassettes or freewheels, rebuilding wheels and the list goes on.
Recycling tubes fits right into the objectives of Earth Day month.
I purchase bulk quantities of patches and rubber glue in cans from craft stores. In the process, not only are a significant numbers of bicycle tubes saved from the landfill, but it is better for the environment than purchasing individual patch kit in plastic containers, and as an added bonus, the rubber glue lasts much longer after it is opened.
O.k., I have "spoke"n enough. :)
-Jonathan