Artists, teachers find inspiration

Former Traverse City resident Kristin Anton and Liz Lancashire, sister of the SCRAP Portland executive director, both moved from Portland to Traverse City and decided to put their efforts towards opening a SCRAP locally along with Meaghan Wells Thomas, says Dayna Valpey, SCRAP TC director."They all felt that TC was a great fit because of the close-knit community, services that SCRAP TC could provide to educators, and the strong focus on protecting and educating the community about our environment," Valpey says.

By selling items that are donated rather than allowing them to be thrown out, SCRAP TC keeps these potential art supplies out of landfills, which has added up to about 4,500 pounds of items this year alone."Instead of adding additional products to our growing waste stream you are keeping products from the waste stream by creatively reusing them...In addition, our items are priced extremely reasonably and whether you are an educator or glazed porcelain tile , everyone likes to save money, especially in the difficult economy of the last few years," Valpey says.

SCRAP takes a variety of donations (which can be turned away if it is something they don't need, can't take or isn't clean) including zippers, crochet hooks, silk flowers, candle wax, buttons, frames, large carpet samples, various office supplies, bottle caps, slide projectors, and the list goes on and on.They have seen a variety of unique items come through their doors, including a recent donation of 30 plastic foot-shaped displays from a shoe store, which have now found new life as planters.

Local businesses have also gotten on board with the SCRAP TC mission. McLain Cycle and Fitness is one such business; it donates used inner tubes that have been repurposed as mini flower gardens and even as pieces for a fashion show."We truly appreciate the local businesses that work with us and are always actively seeking more to partner with," Valpey says.

Anyone can shop at SCRAP, from teachers, to artists, to hobbyists looking for a great deal on supplies. Because SCRAP TC is run by volunteers, they are only open two days a week for shopping and for the public to drop off donations. Valpey hopes to increase the hours of operation and offer more special events, in addition to their current craft night, such as workshops and birthday parties, as more volunteers are added to the organization.

SCRAP is especially useful for teachers, because of budget cuts in the classroom. Recently retired art teacher and glass fusing artist Debra Coburn-Anton has been shopping at SCRAP for a little over a year. Due to limited classroom budgets for supplies she has been able to get more bang for her buck by shopping here.

"My list is quite extensive, as I shop there often. Fabric, yarn, wine corks for sculpture-making, buttons, beads, illustration board, ceramic tile, and my favorite is the containers that come in for storing my supplies," Coburn-Anton says.Prior to retiring, Coburn was able to introduce reusable materials into the classroom for her students to use from SCRAP."Our favorite projects were recycled art, where the students made sculptures out of wine corks. They worked in teams of two to three students and created really amazing scenes, such as a giraffe eating leaves from a tree,'" she says.

Coburn-Anton also takes the time to volunteer about every six weeks at SCRAP and sometimes attends craft nights, where she purchases her supplies. She encourages others to shop at SCRAP in order to save money and come up with new and fun ideas."SCRAP TC offers us as educators a way to connect students to the importance of reuse and repurposing craft supplies that may otherwise find their way into a landfill," Coburn-Anton says. "It helps us get the message out that we all must do our part to salvage and donate extra items we may not use again but others will find them true treasures to be used in their own artistic adventures."

Mixed-media artist Pam Yee began shopping at SCRAP soon after it opened in order to get supplies for her artwork which includes altered books, journals and cards. She began this art form about 13 years ago."Altered books are made of old discarded books and turned into works of art," Yee says. "Repurposing books keeps them out of the landfills and makes a nice addition to a coffee table or shelf. Using what we have instead of buying more is a small way to save the planet."

She creates these pieces of art by taking an existing book and making changes to it with items she already has, like ink and glue, but adds materials found at SCRAP to the mix like wallpaper and notebooks, or whatever she can get her hands on.Using odds and ends to create art can be a challenge, says Yee, but it truly makes her art unique while helping the china glass mosaic .

"SCRAP is the place to go to pick up materials for art projects without spending too much and to keep more room in the landfills," she says.SCRAP TC is open on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit their website and Facebook page to learn more.

Brown County commissioners will take public testimony and consider a petition for partial abandonment of County Ditch 28 at 10:30 a.m. today in the courthouse.The hearing deals with a petition by Gary Tauer and Daniel Tauer for partial abandonment of a public drainage system in Section 27, Mulligan Township. The Tauers farm their properties together, according to the RBA.

The petition reads that the location and configuration of the open ditch on Daniel Tauer's property interferes with and makes impractical petitioner's use of the irrigation system on both of their properties.The petition proposes a portion of the open ditch of CD 28 crossing Daniel Tauer's property be abandoned and filled in, and that the Tauers build a private tile line to replace the portion of the open ditch that will be abandoned.

The private tile line will be of sufficient capacity and design to drain and serve as an outlet for that portion of the open ditch of CD 28, located in the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of Section 27. The private tile line will drain the Tauers' property and outlet into the open portion of CD 28, according to the petition.All lands to be drained by the proposed private tile line currently are assessed benefits for CD 28 and are part of the CD 28 ditch system. After the private tile line is built, the open ditch portion of CD 28 crossing Daniel Tauer's property will no longer serve any substantial purpose and should be abandoned, according to the petition.

The open ditch of CD 28 has sufficient capacity and is an adequate outlet for the proposed private tile line, according to the petition which state laws as legal references.