u/Plane-Split1663

Hey Staunton! We’re putting together a Linux Workshop and could use some help from our local Linux/open-source folks.

We’ll have a room set up with tables, volunteers, and Linux USB drives so people can bring in their laptops and try Linux without installing anything or replacing their current operating system. Think Repair Café, but for exploring Linux.

We’re especially looking for volunteers who are comfortable with Linux and would enjoy sitting down with beginners, helping them boot from USB, showing them around the desktop, answering questions, and generally making Linux feel a little less intimidating. You definitely don’t need to be a Linux wizard, we’re looking for patient, friendly people who like helping others learn.

We’re also looking for donations of new or gently used USB flash drives. We’d like to prepare drives that interested attendees can take home so they can keep experimenting after the workshop.

The bigger idea behind the event is community resilience: sharing skills, extending the life of older computers, exploring open-source alternatives, and helping our neighbors become a little more confident with the technology they use every day.

Want to attend, volunteer, donate a USB drive, or just learn more?

🐧 Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/linux-community-tech-workshop-tickets-1997393204844

Staunton Public Library

Saturday, September 12 • 1 PM - 4 PM (Volunteers welcome to come at noon)

And if you know someone in the Staunton/Augusta County area who loves Linux and would be great at helping beginners, please send this their way!

If you've got something broken, don't throw it away just yet!

This Saturday (1–4 PM) we're hosting a free Repair Café & Community Tech Lab at the Staunton Public Library. Bring small appliances, lamps, laptops, clothing to mend, or other household items, and our volunteers will do our best to help you fix them while sharing repair skills along the way.

We'll also have folks talking Linux, privacy, and other community tech topics. Even if you don't have anything to repair, stop by and say hello!

Hope to see some fellow Redditors there!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/staunton-repair-cafe-community-tech-lab-second-event-tickets-1989955925742

A few of us in the area have been building a local Meshtastic network: a community-powered, off-grid messaging network that uses inexpensive LoRa radios instead of cell service. It's a fun mix of technology, emergency preparedness, hiking, amateur radio, and just plain tinkering.

We recently installed another roof node to help improve local coverage and documented the entire build, from getting permission and assembling the equipment to getting it safely mounted on the roof.

The post includes:

• Six short build videos
• A quick explanation of what Meshtastic is
• A short interview with one of our members about how they discovered the hobby
• A shout-out to one of our local members who recently earned her amateur radio license and was featured in the local paper after participating in Field Day

https://www.kamresearch.global/building-our-community-meshtastic-roof-node/

If you've been curious about Meshtastic (or just enjoy seeing local makers build interesting things) I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Has anyone else around here been experimenting with LoRa, amateur radio, or other off-grid communication projects? We'd love to connect with more local folks!

This feels like a huge win for the Right to Repair movement. It's exciting to see more momentum building around the idea that people should be able to fix the things they own.

If reading this makes you want to get more involved in repair culture, we'd love to have you at our August 1 Repair Café! You definitely don't have to be a fixer to volunteer we always need help greeting people, checking in items, organizing the flow of the event, and making everyone feel welcome.

That said... we're also urgently looking for fixers. If you have experience repairing electronics, appliances, bikes, sewing machines, or anything else, we'd be incredibly grateful to have you join us and share your skills with the community.

I'm also trying to become one of those people. 😄 If anyone has recommendations for learning small engine repair (or other hands-on repair skills), I'd love to hear them. Community colleges, YouTube channels, apprenticeships, I'm open to any suggestions. I'm excited to keep learning so I can help repair more things instead of seeing them thrown away.

https://www.ifixit.com/News/118435/john-deere-settles-with-the-ftc-in-massive-win-for-farmers

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/staunton-repair-cafe-community-tech-lab-second-event-tickets-1989955925742

https://houreconomy.org/repaircafe.html

We're organizing another Repair Cafe in Staunton on August 1st (1–4 PM at the Staunton Public Library).

If you've got something broken sitting around the house like a lamp, small appliance, electronic device, bicycle, piece of clothing, etc. bring it by. We can't promise we'll be able to fix everything, but we'll take a look and see what we can do.

We're also looking for volunteer fixers. If you're handy with electronics, appliances, sewing, bikes, woodworking, or general troubleshooting and would like to help out, we'd love to hear from you. Even if you're not a fixer we could always use help greeting people etc. You can reach us at info@houreconomy.org.

The last Repair Cafe was a lot of fun and saved a surprising number of things from ending up in the trash. We'd love to make this one even bigger.

Details:
https://houreconomy.org/repaircafe.html

And if you know someone with a garage full of tools and an inability to walk past a broken thing without trying to fix it, please send this their way.

The Queen City Resiliency Salon is an ongoing community experiment around:

• repair culture
• mesh networking / off-grid communication
• local food systems
• mutual aid
• time banking
• practical resilience

This week’s meeting was “Grants, Gigs, and Good Neighbors,” and we just posted the full recap + video + slides.

Topics included:
🌱 USDA EQIP high tunnels

🪙 Reviving the Staunton hOUR Economy time bank

🛠 Repair Café planning

📡 Meshtastic / mesh networking

🤝 Coordinating local skills, volunteering, and mutual aid

One thing we keep coming back to:
community resilience is mostly about relationships.

Knowing who can help fix things.
Knowing who grows food.
Knowing who has tools.
Knowing who knows somebody.
Actually talking to neighbors in real life.

We’re also experimenting with physical time bank tokens instead of yet another app. Earn hOURs helping others, spend hOURs getting help from the community.

If any of this sounds interesting (or delightfully weird), come talk to us at the Farmer’s Market tomorrow morning May 30th.

Blog + meeting video:
https://www.kamresearch.global/grants-gigs-and-good-neighbors/