everyday folkways

resources for doing

everyday folkways | September 2026

Repair Fair & Project Circle • Future Podcasts • RIP Wendell • Community Highlights

Thanks for being here! Everyday Folkways is a local resource in support of everyday folks turning to skills and activities to meet their everyday needs. Every month, we host a project circle and publish this newsletter, connecting the community with skills, resources, and events.

What’s been going on:

There was so much going on for the project circle that I forgot to take pictures! So for your edification, I re-enacted what it took. Not pictured: ice, mess, ice cream.

Project Circle this month was a good time. Our projects ranged from tool maintenance to updating health records to fixing the bellows for a portable organ. Most importantly, however, we made ice cream. It was a delicious success: raspberries, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, salt, all churned in turns for about 40 minutes. There were seconds, there were innocent bystanders foisted with ice cream, and there were leftovers. So if you missed it, don’t miss it again. The next monthly Project Circle will be September 26th from 10:30 to 1:30 at Nature Nurture, 403 N Market Street in Chehalis. No promises for more ice cream: but it is harvest season, so I’ll see what I can do.

And there’s more! Two weeks after the September Project Circle, there’ll a bonus project circle at the beginning of October, at a very special event: the Fall Repair and Sustainability Fair! On Saturday October 10th, the Master Recycler/Composters are hosting the event as an opportunity to get your stuff fixed or given away: clothing, textiles, basic electronics, small engines, furniture, bikes, and more. There will be folks to help repair your broken belongings; a stuff-swap table; and booths with free pens and information about local sustainability resources. I’ll be at one of those booths, spreading the good news about Everyday Folkways — and while I won’t have free pens, I will have flyers and a table and chairs set up all day for a very special edition of the project circle. Come on out.

OH DID I MENTION? This will all be taking place during the twice-annual SW Washington Fair Grounds Fall Garage Sale & Swap Meet. If you’re a hopeless sucker for garage sales like I am, seriously: BE THERE.

So: bring that box of flannels you don’t want anymore and the lamp that you’ve been meaning to fix, and join us. The whole event runs from 9AM to 3PM at the SW Washington Fairgrounds. The Repair Fair will be in the Community Events building: the one with quilts during the official SWWF. If you don’t have stuff to swap or a project sitting around, go buy something broken and come hang.

Ok, last but not least, some housekeeping: as things have come together, I’ve ended up with three different ways for folks to connect with us. To simplify this, I’ll be rolling the Substack subscriptions and the everyday folkways Gmail list into the mailing list at hello@everydayfolkways.org. So don’t expect Substack updates, and plan for emails to start coming from that official hello@ email. For now, the podcast will continue to be hosted at Substack, but eventually it will all live at the same place, our super-fancy website: everydayfolkways.org

The Podcast:

We’ve got a couple podcasts cooking, and more ideas on deck! For now, our podcasts are coming out every other month, and this is an off-month. But stand by! It’s looking like you’re going to get a chance to learn about milling grains, and probably weaving: so don’t touch that dial!

In the meantime, we do have three (I dare say lovely) interviews available at the website, so do go check those out! And of course while you’re at it, go out and tell everyone you know about them.

And hey: if you think you or someone you love should be interviewed about a needs-meeting activity or skill, I would be thrilled to hear from you at hello@everydayfolkways.org. If you’ve just got something you’d like to learn about, I would be equally glad to hear from you.

One Last Thing:

It’s been a rough week for rural America. First Dolly, and now, as I just heard while writing, Wendell Berry. If you don’t know who he was, you should. Honestly, though, I couldn’t think of a better way to receive the news. His work was one of the first things that crystalized much of what I’ve come to prioritize in my life, and this project is the best way I know to live out those priorities where I am. Thanks, Wendell, for being the endlessly articulate angry farmer who spoke up for so much of what can’t speak for itself. Damn, do we need you as ever.

OK. Go do something local that matters ❤️

Community Highlights:

For details on the following events, and for more events: go check out our full community calendar

  • Sept 1 (Tues) Literally now-1:30PM: Master Gardeners & Composters Answer Clinic at the Salkum Library
  • Sept 19 (Sat) 10-11AM: Seed Saving with the Master Gardeners at the Borst Demonstration Garden
  • Sept 24 (Thu) 6-8PM: Neuro-Nest Book and Craft Club in Napavine
  • Sept 26 (Sat) 10-11AM: Seed Saving with the Master Gardeners at the Salkum Library
  • Sept 26 (Sat) 10:30AM-1:30PM: Project Circle!
  • Oct 6 (Tues) 11AM-1:30PM: Master Gardeners & Composters Answer Clinic in Randle
  • Oct 10 (Sat) 9AM – 3:00PM: REPAIR AND SUSTAINABILITY FAIR AND ENORMOUS GARAGE SALE AND PROJECT CIRCLE GO TO THIS OR YOU WILL REGRET IT

Resource Links for Needs-Meeting Activities in and Around Lewis County

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