Betsey Cooper laughs Friday night during a hearty conversation as she mends a sock around a table with others at the Repair Cafe in Norway. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

On the first Friday of every month for over a year, a core group of about a half dozen people have been gathering to fix old things and create new friendships.

The Repair Cafe is one of many collaborative working groups within the Center for Ecology Based Economy (CEBE) based in The Commons, a large building on Main Street in downtown Norway. Roberta Hill, the bio-regional coordinator was one of the first to arrive Friday night, unpacking her sewing basket and preparing an old sharpening stone.

A vintage tin box, a family heirloom, is now filled with Lee Holman’s sewing supplies. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

A friendly dog named Dina sat patiently at the door, peering outside waiting for people to arrive. Her owner, Lee Holman is a regular with an unrivaled set of sewing skills. Holman sat down at a well-used, recycled table and took the top off a vintage tin box that belonged to her grandmother, handed down to Lee by her mother. It was filled with rum balls when she got it but she found it to be a perfect size for a small sewing kit she could keep with her at all times.

Gianluca Yornet De Rosas and Roberta Hill took turns hand-spinning an old sharpening stone as they worked together honing a dozen knives.

Claire Emerick brought in a well-used cat toy that kept falling apart and needed to be fixed.

First-time visitors Sean Buchanan from Naples and Betsey Cooper of Bethel both came in with a handful of socks needing to be mended. Within moments they were talking and laughing together and with others like old friends. Buchanan shared that he had just spent time in Germany and Holman struck up a conversation with him in German.

Others trickled in with other items needing to be repaired or to see what it was all about while filling their hearts and souls with good conversation and making new friends.

Gianluca Yornet De Rosas, back, spins a sharpening stone Friday as Roberta Hill hones a knife at the Repair Cafe in Norway. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

This is not an original idea says Hill. “Repair cafes have been going all over the world for some time now, and we need more of these in this throw-away world we now live in.” Holman noted that she thought it began in The Netherlands.

Sewing and knife sharpening are staples most weeks, but they have had people bring in everything from broken lamps to electronics and furniture.

“We often have people with specific skill sets come. We just had a woodworker and plan to have someone with computer repair and electronic skills featured one of these months. It’s a contagious thing that could not only be good for the planet but people’s souls,” said Hill.

A group from Lewiston came to visit recently and are considering emulating the idea. Lisa Henderson, a CEBE volunteer chimed in, “We like to say; don’t throw it away, bring it to the Repair Cafe.”

The group meets from 5-7 p.m. on the first Friday of every month. Organizers say it is free to attend and everyone is welcome.