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Calendar - November 4 and 7 ' Tampa. FLA Old -house Kitchen Lecture Tampa Preservation Inc an Old Seminole Heights -+ host lectures by Jane Powell ) OHJ contributor and author'; of Bungalow Kitchens er < , Bungalow Bathrooms } Powell will speak on how to 4a create eriod kitchen in your old house For more information call ;1 (813)248-5437 ' November 12=14 VENTURA, CALIF ; Ventura Architecture Weekend The Pierpont Inn will host celebration of Ventufds toric architecture and preservation with events including a gala, living tory reenactments of his- toric families, home tours, . and a period exposition.::::.: Call the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau at (800) 333-2989 or visit wwwsbconservancycom. December 11 and 12 CHAPEL HILL, N.C. 2004 Holiday Tour of .. Homes: "The Way We Live:' Tour historic East Franklin r'. Street during Chapel Hill's 7 Preservation Society's fundraiser for the prepara-," tion and publication of a manuscript about the historic architecture of Chapel Hill. Tickets are $20 to $25. For more information visit www chapelhillpreservation.com/ calendachtml. Recycle, Train, and Save, Do you hang on to every scrap of wood and bit of hardware, rationalizing that it must be of use, if not now, sometime; and if not to you, to somebody? If so, a program in Burlington, Vermont, knows you. The Building and Materials Re -use (BMR) offers Deconstruction Services to owners with buildings beyond saving, and a Building Materials Center that allows low- income property own- ers and those of an . � environmental mindset to purchase everything from trusses to door- knobs at a deep dis- count. The program is just one facet of a wider effort called ReCycle North, launched in 1991 by a group of community members dis- couraged by the amount of reusable and repairable household items they saw going to the landfill. They enlisted people who were homeless or underskilled to help make repairs and run a small thrift shop they opened that fall. The effort has since burgeoned into training pro- grams in fixing appliances, computers, electronics, as well as customer service and office administration. Burlington's Mayor Peter Clavelle had seen an operation similar to BMR and asked ReCycle North to consider creating such a venture local- ly, says Outreach Director Paul Lamberson. They launched the Building Materials Center in an abandoned Public Works garage in 2001. Center customers include not only thrifty homeowners who appreciate the detailing of old hardware or the tight grain of old- growth lumber, but also those who must save money out of necessity. The Champlain Valley Center on Aging kept a disabled 70 -year-old woman in her home with free materi- als from ReCycle North, including plywood to level her kitchen floor, functional kitchen and bath appliances, and cupboards where she could store food safely. "By the time Deconstruction Services is called, the decision to get rid of a building has already been made; says Lamberson."We offer satisfaction to the build- ing owner who wants to see the highest use achieved out of the building materials, in addition ReCycle North salvages parts from doomed buildings (above) and offers them to bargain shoppers (left). to a tax break for donating materials to a nonprofit. We assess a potential job on its likelihood of yielding reusable materials, whether they are architectural- ly significant, or not,like 2x4 studs:' Occasionally the pro- gram will do a "soft strip," taking down windows, doors, cabinets, trim, and other items to prepare a structure for renovation. A job may yield a fixture rare and valu- able enough that an architec- tural salvage dealer will buy it for mark-up. The BMR now makes up 40 percent of the organization's operating budget. Its success has allowed it to absorb a local youth program (in which high . school dropouts learn con- struction and leadership skills while finishing a GED or diplo- ma) that lost federal funding. For more information, visit www.recyclenorth.org. % Ww.oldhouselournal. com - - _ OLI' iii t -F Vt FAM. X.`\F.\Iff:F 11b'E',IFEF::i4 19