"Free Day" at Spark Makerspace celebrates a year at its new location
May 6—NEW LONDON — Children and adults lined up inside Spark Makerspace's woodshop Saturday afternoon to take turns making a wooden coin box with a mouse trap inside that would cause it to explode once they inserted a coin.
Visitors to the center also took part in screen printing onto T-shirts, sewing lanyards and soldering metals to create a voice recorder.
And they were walking home with their creations for free.
The community workshop and learning center hosted "Free Day" and invited people of all ages to enjoy activities at its unique facility to celebrate a year since its grand opening at 7 Union St.
But really it's a celebration years in the making.
Executive Director Casey Moran said Spark purchased the building pre-pandemic and raised funds and repaired the building with volunteers during the pandemic. The center ultimately moved from its prior location at 225 State St.
Moran said he wasn't certain how the center would do after the pandemic but thinks they are doing well now. He said the center has more than 130 memberships.
George Ryan, one of Spark's founders and the chair of its board, said Spark continues to grow, starting a program for students that are home schooled and gaining more memberships. He said he hopes to one day get the funding to renovate and use the building's top floor and offer more at Spark.
Moran said "Free Day" started because the center's leadership wanted to put together a community day. He added they made it accessible for all by getting sponsorships from Chelsea Groton bank for the purchase of materials and Charter Oak Federal Credit Union for the purchase of food and drinks.
Nine-year-old Keagan Fogarty, of Gales Ferry, was focused intently on putting together his exploding coin box. He said he was enjoying learning things he had never done before.
His mother Sara Fogarty said he was sewing, ironing and soldering for the first time but he is no stranger to building and creating. She said he was one of nine kids Saturday from Southeastern CT Robotics.
"He loves this kind of stuff," she said.
Amber Hall of East Lyme watched and took photos of her 9-year-old daughter Ilaria as she soldered together metals to create a voice recorder. She said this was their first time visiting Spark but she had heard about it and was interested in the classes it offered on activities such as stained glass and electronics that would otherwise be hard to learn watching a YouTube video, or as a DIY project.
Hall said apart from helping children with their fine motor skills, the activities offered at Spark could help them find out what they love to do.
"There's something about creativity that opens roads for finding a love for certain work, or taking a break from work," she said.
For information on upcoming Spark classes and memberships, visit www.sparkmakerspace.org.
Editor's note: this version corrects Casey Moran's name.
