Construction can be a rough job as it is, but for people who do not have a lot of experience with the equipment, a simple wood flooring job can sometimes feel incredibly daunting. The Yoga Farm is looking to ease those concerns for women in Elizabethton, as well as inspire confidence in them that they can do the job just as well as their husbands if they know what to do. Carrie Maggard from the Yoga Farm will be bringing her several years of teaching experience to the library Saturday, giving women the opportunity to learn about construction tools and how to safely use them for house projects or other activities. Maggard said she worked for a company for several years before the Yoga Farm, bringing similar classes to different groups of people. “Our goal is to use all the tools that day, so they help do projects at home,” Maggard said. She said many women in the Elizabethton community simply were not taught how to use more sophisticated tools, taught instead that their husbands would be doing most of the work. “There are a lot of single or widowed women here,” she said. “There is a misconception that women cannot do these things. It is not that time anymore.” Without experience, however, handling tools like a power drill or electric saw can be intimidating, a fear Maggard said she hopes to help dispel with this class. “You do not have to call a handyman for every little project,” she said. “It is about working a little smarter, not harder.”

In addition to the tools themselves, Maggard said they will be learning about various resources women can use to help with some of their more complicated projects, such as going to Home Depot.

“We will talk about how, where and when to use certain tools,” she said.

The program, she said, is another way for the Yoga Farm to get involved in the community at large, particularly in how they work to instill self confidence.

“I feel the more positive we are, the happier we are,” Maggard said. “Knowledge is happiness.”

She said learning things like how to change a light bulb or how to put in a screw can make the smaller issues in life much easier to manage, and such knowledge can be empowering for women, too.

“I look forward to those ‘ah-ha!’ moments,” Maggard said. “They get excited, and they say ‘Oh, I can use this.’”

The event will take place Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. For more information, contact the Yoga Farm at 423-542-6922 or the library at 423-574-6360.