Archive: Around Town

There are rummage sales and there are rummage sales.  And there's the Lansing United Methodist Church Rummage Sale with is a RUMMAGE SALE.  The mother of all local rummage sales was last weekend, attracting shoppers from all over to sift though thousands of items including clothing, electronics, furniture, and more.  Doors opened at 8am Friday, and the sale ended Sunday at 1pm.  As always, most items Sunday were all you could fit into a bag for $1.

"Once again it was a huge success based on tangibles and intangibles," says Ed laVigne, who co-chaired the sale with Shelley Stark.  "For the tangibles, we made over $8,500.  We also made clothing available for people in need."

That includes people at Cayuga Ridge, to flood victims in the Endicott/ Binghamton area, and unsold items go to the Ithaca Salvation Army. A group from the Ukranian Church in Cortland comes to the sale each time to gather clothes for a family in the Ukraine.

"They're a self sufficient family," LaVigne says.  "They have 14 kids.  They're on a farm, and they ship the family clothing every year twice a year."

Over 200 people volunteered to work on the sale.  While the actual sale was on Friday and Saturday, the rummage sale is an all week event starting the previous Saturday when volunteers set up the tents in the parking lot.  People drop off items from Sunday afternoon through Tuesday, with volunteers taking in the items, sorting and pricing them all week.

Volunteers are fed home made meals through Thursday, and that has become a big draw for people working the sale.  Another cadre of volunteers takes over the kitchen, often feeding 30 or 40 people.

"We're inclusive.  Anyone can come," says LaVigne.  "If you work four hours you're allowed to shop early, before the sale.  And we include everyone.  Half of our volunteers are not members of the church."


Items are collected in special rooms or tents, which fill up fast.  There is a craft room, and rooms for ladies' accessories, hard cover books, electronics, antiques, men's and boys' clothing, dishes, toys, seasonal items, furniture, and computers.  The large room contains clothing, linens, and children's' clothing.

"Every year has a different personality because of the different people who show up to help," LaVigne observes.  "We have our standard people who are the department chairs in each area.  This year there were younger people.  We had Keagen, who is four years old.  He was our poster boy this year -- he was awesome.  he was in charge of picking up things, and moving things from one room to another.  He was too young to go to school so he was there."

This year rain was a challenge, but LaVigne says it worked out just fine.

"We started at 11 on Saturday and got the tents down as fast as we could before they all got wet, and then the rains came," he says.  "We were very fortunate.  You can read into this as deeply as you want.  It happens every time.  Every time your faith gets tested and every time it pulls you through."

The next rummage sale is planned for May 11th and 12th.

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