We had a wonderful turn out for our annual holiday social in December. Many thanks to Not Your Average Joe's in downtown Silver Spring for offering us a great space and some delicious appetizers too. Nearly 30 SSTB members enjoyed connecting with each other and sharing unique white elephant gifts.
Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year from the Silver Spring Timebank!
We are now calling for proposals for our next Skill Share/Repair Cafe on Sunday, February 10 from 2-5pm at the Silver Spring Civic Building located at One Veterans Plaza in downtown Silver Spring.
The deadline to submit proposals is December 31.
This year, in addition to talks and Q&A tables, we will be hosting a Repair Cafe at our Skill Share. We did our first Repair Cafe at this year's Montgomery County Greenfest: http://www.sstimebank.org/news/2018/6/4/our-first-repair-cafe-is-a-hit?rq=Repair%20Cafe).
At Repair Cafes, volunteer repairers with particular skill sets (this could be you!) will be available to help members of the community fix items that are broken, or help them assess what needs repair, or how to re-purpose if it is beyond repair. Are you a tinkerer or fixer? Could you help hem a pair of paints, or re-glue a wooden box? Can you restring a necklace, or help fix a small appliance? Do you have another skill to share? If so, please let us know! Based upon the skills of our fixers, we will publicize what types of items folks can bring to the Cafe!
Please fill out this form to register your interest in sharing a skill or serving as a repair person at the event. You may submit more than one idea, but please only submit one at a time. After submitting this form, click on "Submit another" to begin your second submission.
Check out our photos and comments from last year’s Skill Share!
I took some toys, small cars, puzzles, and other things. I'm sending them to the Jose Castro Lopez School in Cortes, Honduras. For the children in Honduras, they're easy to play with and help them learn, especially the puzzles. Thank you! -Edilson
Here's a game called Arrogance -- a set of cards, so it's portable which is always good. Here, it's got a question on how many countries are in the European Union. I love games that challenge your mind to gather information. It pushes the limits of knowledge, and if you don't know an answer, you're set to go learn it. -Tanya
I found a really nice puzzle for my mom. Her nursing home burned down a couple of weeks ago. They're all staying in a hotel now, so I'm bringing them lots of puzzles to give them something to do. -Alisha
We brought a lot because our kids are older, and it's time to declutter. In fact, my son just went to college, and he finally let us get rid of some of his things from when he was young. -Laurie
I found some things like Jenga for an after-school program. And I also found something for a friend who just had a baby. For Zev, I got some board games and an airplane-making kit. He found some things I didn't even know he would like, like this vintage Uncle Wiggly game from 1956. I'm excited to play this with him. -Gargi
I was so happy to get rid of what my kids have outgrown. They have a lot, but they get used to it, and then they're not interested anymore. My daughter was really looking forward to today to find something new. -Olga
I found a recorder here for my daughter who also wants to play the ukulele. They all play the recorder in music class. I did when I was young, too. -Shannon
I'm taking home less than I brought, so that's good. It's a great way to clean up the toy room. -Cynthia
I have a friend who works at Infants and Toddlers, part of MCPS. They are always looking for puzzles with knobs to help with coordination. And other things for special needs students. I was looking for farm animals, and I found one cow. -Emily
I got a clarinet and this guitar. I'll bring them on my mission trip to Jamaica. We'll be doing all kinds of arts at a school in Kingston. I am so excited I found these here. Thank you so much. -Chevella
Our society can be so striated, but what we've noticed about the timebank swaps is that it attracts and unites people from all around the community in an informal and uplifting way. -Jonathan
Any leftover toys, games and puzzles went to A Wider Circle. Any left over sporting equipment went to Level the Playing Field, and any leftover musical instruments went to the Washington Revels. Many thanks to the Washington Revels for hosting the Silver Spring Timebank’s swap!
One of our members, Katherine Brooks, brought an amazing cake to our summer picnic social. The crowd devoured it and begged for the recipe. We learned it was an old family recipe that couldn't be divulged, but Katherine shared another favorite, listed below. Many thanks to Katherine who is the Senior Event Manager for Enflotra: Events, Florals and Travel.
Million Dollar Pound Cake (Just 7 Ingredients!)
Ingredients
1 pound butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
How to Make It
Step 1
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. (The butter will become a lighter yellow color; this is an important step, as the job of the mixer is to incorporate air into the butter so the cake will rise. It will take 1 to 7 minutes, depending on the power of your mixer.) Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. (Again, the times will vary, and butter will turn to a fluffy white.) Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow yolk disappears.
Step 2
Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. (The batter should be smooth and bits of flour should be well incorporated; to rid batter of lumps, stir gently with a rubber spatula.) Stir in extracts.
Step 3
Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. (Use vegetable shortening or butter to grease the pan, getting every nook and cranny covered. Sprinkle a light coating of flour over the greased surface.)
Step 4
Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.
Step 5
Note: For testing purposes only, we used White Lily All-Purpose Flour.
Chef's Notes
For the best results, preheat your oven to 300º before you begin. Also soften butter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Over 30 people attended (not all pictured here!) our summer picnic social on June 24. We dodged the rain and enjoyed a lovely evening outside. Everyone brought delicious dishes to share and it was wonderful meeting some old, new and hopefully soon-to be members of the Silver Spring Timebank!
What's a Repair Cafe? It's about getting stuff fixed, helping the environment and building community, all at the same time! The Silver Spring Timebank hosted our first Repair Cafe on Saturday, May 5 at the Montgomery County GreenFest. There was a steady crowd of people to get a variety of items fixed including furniture, jewelry, clocks and small appliances, and the feedback was terrific!
One woman, who had four chairs repaired, was "super happy!".
Another woman arrived with a broken clock, a 20-year old wedding gift, and left with it working like new again.
And a woman came with a jewelry box nearly in pieces, and she was thrilled to have it fixed as it carried great meaning for her.
Our first foray into the Repair Cafe scene was a success, and we'll be sure to offer another in the future...stay tuned!
Princess Clemente helps people in all aspects of her life. She brings that passion to the SSTB, and looks forward to receiving help from others too!
A chance sighting of a Silver Spring Timebank flyer led to Princess Clemente becoming a member of the timebank in December 2017. The idea of a timebank intrigued her. Not only was this fortuitous for her, but it was a boon to the timebank because Princess used her graphic design skills to prepare the program sheet and signs for the recent timebank Skill Share in January.
Born in the Philippines, Princess came to the US at age four. She lived in New York and Illinois before settling in Silver Spring as an adult. Princess now works as a trainer for the Arlington County Department of Human Services primarily designing online training. In that capacity, she creates instructional aids, online modules and tutorials for staff from various divisions in the department.
Asked what she wished to do as she was growing up, Princess always said she wanted “to help people.” She has found her niche doing that, both in her job and as an active member of the timebank. Princess has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in training and development from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL. She studied psychology – not with the intention of becoming a professional psychologist, but to learn about people and to prepare for her career.
In addition to family, she credits her teachers for having a major influence on her life – in particular, one psychology professor in college. This teacher was really tough, but emphasized learning from mistakes. Her mantra was that one does not really learn something until one demonstrates it in real life, i.e., making the changes necessary to improve after a mistake.
Moving to the DC area was exciting for Princess because she appreciates all the civic engagement here. She has been going to local political events and related activities. She also likes to travel and try new places, particularly restaurants, with her wife, Laura Muñoz Lopez, who is also a timebank member. A favorite non-work interest is their two orange rescue cats, Marley and Barley. In her spare time, Princess plays tennis in two leagues. She previously played tennis in college and coached high school tennis.
As a timebank member, Princess is available to teach tennis and to advise on graphic design or e-learning projects such as creating interactive PowerPoints. She looks forward to learning some new skills through the timebank, and she has already used the services of a timebank cat-sitter. She is “super-excited to be a part of the timebank community because it has the feeling of a close community and personal touch that one does not always find in a city environment.”
Thanks to SSTB member Donna Sasser for writing this Member Spotlight!
