Cannon Valley Makers celebrates 4 years of sharing skills

The community turned out on April 6 to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Cannon Valley Makers. Guests visiting the warehouse space in Dundas were treated to tours, music by Tractorhead, treats, make-n-takes and demonstrations.

After years of planning, Cannon Valley Makers (CVM) opened its doors in spring 2020.

“It was a challenging time to open a maker space dedicated to bringing the community together,” said Dave Peterson, one of the founding members.

But the organization survived and even thrived. They now have over one hundred fifty members and thousands of tools available in the space. “It’s amazing how much you can put in such a relatively small space,” said member Michelle Martin.

Table saws, CNC routers, lathes, electronics bench, band saws, stained glass tools, laser engraving, 3D printing, Cricut, button making — almost all of the tools were donated to the nonprofit makerspace by the community.

“People have been unbelievably generous. We are so grateful,” Martin said.

CVM hosts some events that are free and open to the public, such as their popular Thursday night spoon carving group and the growing Monday “Fiber Friends” group.

“Our mission is to help everyone make things with their hands,” Peterson said.

Members, meanwhile, can use the space and tools at any time.

While they do have some classes, they have found that connecting individual makers up is a good way to learn, too.

“The maker movement is all about open source. If I know how to do it, I’ll show you and if you know how, you’ll show me.” Martin said.

The group has a spreadsheet of members who want to teach their skills to others.

“We are so grateful to the community for their support. We couldn’t have done it without them.” said Peterson.