Terri Winterling, Jewelry
Repair Cafes: Middletown, Warwick, Montgomery
Terri has been volunteering as a jewelry repair coach at the Middletown and Warwick Repair Cafes since 2019, after retiring as the district accountant for the Pine Bush Central School District. As jewelry has been one of her hobbies for over 25 years, she thought she would give jewelry repair coaching at a café a shot. “My husband had been volunteering as an electrical/mechanical repair coach at the Middletown and Warwick Repair Cafes; he enjoyed his experiences so much that when I had more time, I decided to join him.” As the Orange County list of repair cafes has continued to grow, she has also added Montgomery to her roster.
The most frequent repairs she does at the jewelry station are restringing bracelets and necklaces, both on beading wire and elastic; she even has a handy tool her husband Ken has created for her to make glueing and drying the elastic knots a breeze. But her most memorable fixes don’t have anything to do with the kind of repair but instead are about what it means to the guest to have a cherished piece of jewelry back in working order. “My favorite repairs are pieces of jewelry that have strong sentimental value to the owners. They get emotional when they are able to wear something again that they value.” But like many repair coaches, when needed she also has fixed things that are outside her area of expertise. “I also remember repairing a shattered figure of Christ on the Crucifix. It had been in the man's family for generations and he was so upset that a grandchild had dropped it.”
In addition to repair café work, Terri also has her own jewelry projects in the works. She is an incredibly talented bead weaver and is always learning new jewelry making techniques. She sells her jewelry at Bertoni Gallery in Warwick and also posts it on her Facebook page Terri's Visions.
A dancer in her youth, Terri still loves to dance now that she has more time to do so. She also volunteers at Garnet Hospital and at her parish food pantry and does tax returns for a few lucky family members. But her all-time favorite pastime? Spending time with her family, especially her two grandchildren, whom I heard may be making their repair café debut soon as helpers for Terri and her husband Ken!
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