JOHN MACNEIL
Independent editor
The bargains were almost as hot as the weekend weather as Stettler hosted its annual rummage sale at the Agriplex and the neighbouring curling rink.
Hundreds of people lined up to peruse the fully stocked buildings of furniture, clothing and a full gamut of odds and ends.
“Everything that we were selling was donated to us,” said Kinette club member Chris Leinweber, the rummage sale co-coordinator along with Cindy Falkenberg.
“It was absolutely fantastic. I think we moved a lot of product. We kept a lot of stuff out of landfill. We don’t know dollar amounts yet, but we know every single penny that we make is going right back into the community, which is fabulous.”
The rummage sale, now in its 69th year, has become a fall fixture in Stettler.
“The Kinettes have been doing it the last four years, but the last two years, we were pretty well doing it with the assistance of the IODEs,” Leinweber said. “But the idea is for the Kinettes to take it over, and always honour the IODE tradition of the rummage sale.”
The massive yard sale of sorts attracted people of all ages who were in search of useful goods at bargain prices.
“They were lined up all the way to the street Friday morning,” Leinweber said as organizers cleaned up Saturday afternoon. “Today was a little bit quieter. But it was an absolutely phenomenal weekend. We had two full buildings. This building (the Agriplex) was full of sporting goods, furniture and electronics. The other building was full of clothes, dishes, specialty items, Christmas stuff and books, too.”
More than 100 volunteers pitched in to make the rummage sale run smoothly and efficiently.
“Pretty impressive,” Leinweber said. “We’re pretty glad it’s over. But we could always use more volunteers, especially when it comes to takedown time. We’re tired now and we’re still working, and we wish we had more help.”
The clean-up continued through Sunday as truckloads of items were hauled away — some of them for disposal, some for recycling and others for charitable organizations.