Aaron Rothmeyer works on two projects Saturday morning using Cannon Valley Makers commercial grade equipment. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Hannah and Tessa Parvish show off the brown paper bag wreaths they made Saturday morning. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Michelle Martin and Jared Sable are two ardent supporters of the makers movement who believe passionately in the motto sharing space, making community. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
The Makery boasts a deep reservoir of woodworking and metalworking tools that are sharpened, organized and accessible to members and guests. The Dundas building also has a storage space for projects too cumbersome to haul home before completion. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Big clamps, small clamps, hand clamps, spring clamps and c-clamps and more clamps than makers know what to clamp with are available at the Cannon Valley Maker back room. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
CVM board member Tom Baraniak likes to work with students of all ages in his electronics nook at the Makery. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
When Aaron Rothmeyer dropped by Makespace Saturday morning, he had two projects he wanted to make: both required using equipment he had never worked with before.
One project involved the Makery’s cricket — a machine that prints t-shirts — for his 5K running group. The second project involved using a plasma cutter for sizing the matting around framed photographs.
Aaron Rothmeyer works on two projects Saturday morning using Cannon Valley Makers commercial grade equipment. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Rothmeyer said his membership in the Cannon Valley Makers dates back to the “early days,” just before the group of do-it-yourselfers moved into their current home at 300 Railway St. in Dundas.
Rothmeyer said his wife and four children all enjoy the opportunity to learn how to create things on their own while in a creative space with others who share that same desire to learn how things work.
“My family moved here a year ago from Minneapolis,” said Nina Lenz. “This is a wonderful unique space in which to experiment.”
Lenz said her family likes to participate in the make-n-take Saturday sessions, one of the many clever weekly events that draw members in via Facebook posts. On Saturday morning, Hannah Parvish, 15, and her 8-year old sister Tessa Parvish were learning to make wreaths from brown paper bags.
Other weekly events posted on Facebook include Tool Tuesdays and Did you Know? Fridays. Last month, the Makery partnered with Content Bookstore for a Valentine’s Day collaboration that featured making origami Valentine bookmarks at the 314 Division St. store. In return, Content Bookstore donated 10% of sales to Cannon Valley Makers.
Hannah and Tessa Parvish show off the brown paper bag wreaths they made Saturday morning. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Michelle Martin, a teacher at Prairie Creek, has been a strong advocate of the Cannon Valley Makers. She hosted a makers club and robotics club at Prairie Creek and noticed that parents enjoyed making things as much as their children.
Michelle Martin and Jared Sable are two ardent supporters of the makers movement who believe passionately in the motto sharing space, making community. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Now a board member and Saturday morning regular, Martin has conducted a lot of research about the makerspace movement, which has been growing nationally and across Minnesota over the last 17 years. She’s interested in the idea of the third space, somewhere other than home and work where people feel comfortable, connected and valued.
“It’s a safe space where people know each other and connect in the spirit of making,” Martin said. “They come together to share their curiosity.”
The Makery boasts a deep reservoir of woodworking and metalworking tools that are sharpened, organized and accessible to members and guests. The Dundas building also has a storage space for projects too cumbersome to haul home before completion. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
With 140 members/families on board, Martin said the ideal number would between 200 and 250.
“We’d be beautifully busy,” she said.
Martin said the CVM board of directors has an ambitious list of next steps they hope to achieve in the next, hopefully post-pandemic, year.
Big clamps, small clamps, hand clamps, spring clamps and c-clamps and more clamps than makers know what to clamp with are available at the Cannon Valley Maker back room. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
“We’d like to be open 24/7 for our members,” she said. “We’d like to extend our hosted hours when there’s a second adult on site, and we’d like to add more classes.”
Martin said the list of what crafts or activities the makers couldn’t do is actually quite short: no glass blowing or ceramics.
Otherwise, the options for creativity are as limitless as one’s imagination.
CVM board member Tom Baraniak likes to work with students of all ages in his electronics nook at the Makery. (Pamela Thompson/southernminn.com)
Board member Tom Baraniak said the idea of sharing tools and knowledge appeals to him. So he set up an electronic nook off the main room and filled it ceiling to floor with all sorts of electronic equipment.
“I grew up with the space program,” he said. “My love of tinkering with old TVs and radios grew into working on the Hubble Space project.”
Whether a maker is learning to use a 3D printer, a scroll saw or a laser engraver, or teaching another how to use a sander and to make tie-dye shirts and intricate origami patterns, doing something with your own two hands is very satisfying.
“This is a family-friendly place that brings out the joy of making,” he said. “People of all ages forge common bonds by making and creating.”
Jared Sable said he’s been entranced by making ever since he was young and asked to borrow a scroll saw from his grandfather.
“I’m so glad I found this place,” Sable said. “I get great satisfaction from problem solving.”
{span}Pamela Thompson is the associate editor for the Northfield News. Reach her at 507-645-1115 or pamela.thompson@apgsomn.com.{/span}
Thanks to the visionary founder Dave Peterson, the Cannon Valley Makers began to take shape as an organization in 2016. The first steps were to hold meetings at the Northfield Public Library, find the seed money from 50 founding members and scout a prime location big enough to house space for classes, workshops and an impressive number of professional grade equipment, but with small spaces for individual or mentored craft making.
Martin said her girl scout troop had so much fun learning the basics of how to make wooden signs. "And they even earned a badge," she said.
The motto: Not afraid to fail.
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