Lynne Cotton, mother of our Executive Director Darren Cotton, and Louise Manista, mother of our Board President, Melanie Rushforth, not only put in the work to raise these kids but instilled in them the ethic and ethos that has made the Tool Library what it is today. For that, they deserve our recognition and gratitude!
Louise Manista is humble. Noting that she “can certainly do some things,” she prefers assembling small things to building out large items like furniture. Nevertheless, Melanie points out that her mom’s “sustainable superpower has always been her seamstress talents.” Louise loves to go thrifting in order to recycle used materials into brand new clothes.
Living among the farms to Buffalo’s south, Louise of course keeps both a flower and a vegetable garden. When Melanie was young, Louise stepped up to be the leader of her 4H chapter, introducing her daughter not only to things like crafting and cooking but also to community and civic purpose! She has continued to put her talents to good use as a volunteer, and one of her favorite ways to support the Tool Library in recent years is to assemble fundraising raffle baskets. It’s her way of “making the world a better place.”
In our brief conversation, Louise routinely brought us back to Melanie’s accomplishments. It is clear from the way she talks that she is so proud of Melanie, and here at the Tool Library, so are we! We are grateful to both!
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No stranger to junior hockey fundraising or running PTA meetings, it’s no wonder Lynne Cotton has been such a boon to the Tool Library in recent years! Whether you’ve met Darren’s mother yet or not, you may know her from the wonderful desserts she’s prepared for Tool Library luncheons and bake sales. Strawberry Shortcake Shish-Kebabs? Talk about creative!
Darren’s grandfather was a welder and a handyman, so Lynne has always had a fix-it spirit. “All the tools in the house are mine,” she says. That means, before the Tool Library, Darren had to borrow tools from Mom to fix up his college apartments. Connecting with the Pioneers volunteer network through her work, Lynne has fond memories of bringing Darren with her to help renovate a camp for disabled children one summer. “Boy we were beat at the end of each day,” says Lynne, “but everybody loved having Darren there–he was climbing ladders and crawling under boards—my volunteer work ethic kinda wore off on him that summer.”
When Darren narrowed his career aspirations from global to local, he told his mom, “I don’t need to fix the world, I need to fix Buffalo.” Ever proud of her Darren, Lynne’s reaction, in her own words: “I’m just happy he’s staying home!” It probably goes without saying, but so are we!