A pair of black pumps decorated with a rhinestone star, Barbie evening gowns and an antique soup tureen were just a few of the things that were scooped up by my “customers” at the Kal Tire Community Garage Sale and Market last weekend.
I had never had any interest in holding a garage sale, although I’ve always enjoyed attending them. The thought of hoards of people in my yard and driveway, not to mention the early birds showing up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday, has just never appealed to me. It all frankly seemed like too much work for too little reward.
But when I heard about Kal Tire hosting this fundraiser for the Okanagan Rail Trail, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to purge some stuff from my house and to support a great cause.
I am constantly getting rid of stuff, happily donating it to other fundraising garage sales, so I figured I wouldn’t have much to sell. But when my daughter and I decided to do this together, we found piles of stuff we no longer needed and she very willingly parted with boxes of stuffies, sticker books and an old doll that she deemed creepy.
Huge thanks to Kevin McCarty, corporate social responsibility coordinator at Kal Tire, as he very kindly provided us with a table to use.
Saturday was a gloriously sunny day after what seemed like endless rain and we had barely started unpacking our stuff before people were descending on our table.
As I started unpacking some of the collectibles, such as antique silver tea pots, cups, saucers and tiny spoons, I had people hanging about, asking about prices, inquiring about cracks in this saucer, a chip in that teacup. I assume they were collectors or dealers, not sure which, but in the end I was happy they didn’t buy anything. They seemed to be in it just for the hunt, not for the joy of finding that special treasure.
The antiques were all my mother’s things, and while I can hear her saying, “Don’t hold onto things if you can’t use them — give them away or sell them,” I was so pleased that a young girl ended up buying some of the tea things. So to Anneke, thank you — my mother would be so happy to know that her things went to a loving home.
Thank you to everyone who came out to shop, enjoy the bouncy castle, listen to live music and tuck into barbecued hot dogs. The garage sale brought in more than $8,000, with Kal Tire topping it up by another $5,000 for a total of $13,785.75.
As well, since these funds were raised during the Rail Trail October Donation Matching campaign, this amount will be doubled, resulting in a total of $27,571.50 towards rail trail construction. And a donation of $10,400 from Vernon’s 100 Men who Give a Damn was also received at the garage sale and will also be matched in the October campaign.
So while I am no longer the owner of a Yamaha turntable — circa 1989 — or a knock-off Prada handbag, I am already thinking about the lovely walks and bike rides I will be taking with my family when the Okanagan Rail Trail is complete.