Our little village actually has a real, printed-on-paper monthly newspaper. It’s a genuine labor of love by the trio that keeps it going, but it’s also a real treasure. (I’m prejudiced, though, as they occasionally let their standards slip and publish an article I’ve written.)
Of the many challenges they’ve faced, one was not being able to find a printer that could continue the full-tabloid size print run. They changed the format to half-tab, which is fine, but then they discovered that the postal service had too much trouble with the papers falling apart during delivery, and that they had to be folded in half. Thus was the folding party born.
Each month, a number of volunteers meet in a community center armed with latex-free gloves and these marvelous little wooden folding/creasing sticks and they fold 3,000 papers and bundle them in packs of 50 for delivery to the US Postal Service.
It’s a marvelous experience. I don’t know what motivates everyone else, but it’s just cool to see a bunch of folks get together to support a common cause. One of the volunteers made the folding sticks out of sugi pine wood (the same kind of tree that frames twoprops’ compound.)
Everyone seems delighted to be there, and I get to hear stories of the ‘āina and the little neighborhoods around. It feels good that people care enough to give of their time to support a resource that keeps our little island community connected.
—2p