Helping Hands Lift Rummage Sale
From Kenyon News - August 27, 2013
The annual Harcourt Parish Rummage Sale and Boutique returns to the Gambier Community Center, 115 Meadow Lane, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 29-31.
The rummage sale this year has spilled outside the community center, under cover of canopies and inside a truck trailer. Proceeds from the event, which reached about $15,000 last year, benefit non-profit organizations that are part of the parish outreach project and the parish itself.
About 150 people are involved as volunteers, including the Kenyon Lords football team and members of the East Knox Future Farmers of America. “People get excited,” said event chairwoman Kachen Kimmell of Gambier. “It’s all-volunteer. This is a manifestation of people volunteering in service to others. Service to others is good for our spiritual health and our physical health. This is good for the community. It’s good for the world.”
The sale is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. A bag sale will be held on Saturday, from 9-11 a.m., during which customers may fill a grocery bag of regular rummage items at a cost of $3 a bag and boutique items at a cost of $5. Kenyon students can take advantage of a pre-sale opportunity exclusive to them on Wednesday, August 28, from 9-11 a.m.
“We have everything,” Kimmell said, with the notable exception of refrigerators. That leaves “microwaves, electronics, Kenyon gear, lamps, mirrors, chairs, kitchen ware, office-related stuff, rugs, fans in every shape known to man, linens piled to the sky, blankets, towels, sheets, tables, bed frames, Halloween costumes, Christmas trees and Christmas stuff,” she said. If some of the items are less than fancy, they are nonetheless “totally useable.” Clothing can be found in the boutique, this year expanded to two rooms.