Maker Faire will be a joint effort July 27 in Wooster

Did you have an erector set as a kid? Do you love to make stuff? Interested in robotics? In learning? Are you curious about how things work? Do you and your kids or grandkids love a Saturday filled with hands-on fun?

There will be something for everyone at the upcoming sixth annual Maker Faire Wayne County and A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society Erector Convention. The joint event will be held Saturday, July 27 at the Wayne County Fairgrounds Event Center in Wooster. The event is free, family-friendly and open to all and will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“This event will showcase over 60 makers from Wayne County and surrounding areas,” said Tom Hammond, a member of the Maker Faire coordination team. “It is a gathering of fascinating, curious people who enjoy learning and love sharing what they do.”

Hammond said the Maker Faire showcases hands-on projects and ideas that aren’t encountered every day. This year the makers will include individuals showcasing and demonstrating things such as ham radios, blacksmithing, CO2-powered go karts, woodcarving, glass blowing, green energy, hands-on soldering, kid-friendly activities, adapting toys for kids with disabilities, a vortex cannon, weaving, beading, metal casting, animated Christmas lights, leatherworking, 3-D printing, origami and flint knapping.

“This year’s event will be a unique experience as it is combined with the annual convention of the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society, resulting in a Maker Extravaganza,” said Greg Bilek, president of the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society and a member of the Maker Faire coordination team.

Bilek said the society maintains the spirit of the former A.C. Gilbert Company, manufacturer of Erector sets and many other educational items.

“Erector sets were the LEGO bricks of recent generations,” Bilek said. “Many tables will feature A.C. Gilbert products, and there will be hundreds of enthusiasts along with Maker Faire attendees.”

The partnership came about when Bilek was looking at the event center for the Heritage Society convention, but the idea was forming beforehand.

“With the new technology of 3-D printing, laser cutting and engraving,” Bilek said, “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to show a stamped steel girder made in 1915 and then right next to it have a 3-D printer making the same basic part?’”

Bilek connected with Barry Romich, the founder of the local Maker Faire, who not only remembers his father’s Erector set, but still has it. The Maker Faire organizers then negotiated to switch from their previous home at Wayne College in order to hold the two events simultaneously at the fairgrounds. A partnership was formed.

“A.C. Gilbert was all about making and learning with his educational toys. (Connecting with the Maker Faire) was a natural fit,” Bilek said. “I would go as far to say he probably helped lay that groundwork for makers 100 years ago.”

Bilek said the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society, a nonprofit charitable organization, is formed to preserve, promote and interpret the legacy of educational toys produced and sold by the A.C. Gilbert Company of New Haven, Connecticut for the inspiration and benefit of students, educators and collectors across the United States and around the world. Founded in 1991, the group currently has 400 members nationwide.

Most members are Erector set collectors. At the convention, Bilek said, “They display models and restored Erector sets along with other A.C. Gilbert Products and, of course, buy and sell. We also try and emphasize showing the younger generation what they are all about. We offer a kids table every year for youth to build a simple model to take home with them.”

For many people, seeing the Erector sets is a blast from the past.

“For most people about 50 and over, it will bring back some great childhood memories,” Bilek said. “It really is for everyone to enjoy. Kids will enjoy lots of the hands-on exhibits where they get to make things to take home. Everyone enjoys seeing Erector sets running models such as Ferris wheels, airplane rides, merry-go-rounds, et cetera. Tech-type people will enjoy many of the computer-based machines. Parents and grandparents will fondly remember A.C. Gilbert toys as a kid. There will be a large American Flyer train layout. It’s a great few hours of entertainment for families.”

The partnership between the makers and the Heritage Society also was the catalyst for a project involving area high schools. Ten schools were given the parts to make an old-style Erector set robot. Additionally, they were given funds to customize and modernize the robots.

The project was conceived not as a competition, but as a way to connect the generations. Bilek said the Heritage Society has been focusing on working with youth, and one of the most popular Erector set models from the 1950s was a walking robot.

“In talking with (Romich), I threw out the idea of kids building the erector robot, and then I found out he also worked with some area high schools on their robotic programs,” Bilek said. “We then came up with the idea: I would get our members to donate enough parts to area high schools to build a ‘50s era robot, and then they would modernize it with modern era servo motors and mini computers to make it move.”

Each participating school will have a table at the event to showcase their creations, with students providing demonstrations of the robots.

For more information visit waynecounty.makerfaire.com or email Hammond at waynemakerfaire@gmail.com. Find the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society at www.ACGHS.org. Food will be available at the event.