Haines Rummage Sale

Every year, hospice of Haines throws together a huge, huge rummage sale for the town.

Everyone donates their old stuff and it’s laid out at good prices.

The first day, things are sold at full price. The next day, they’re half off until 2 PM when everything is free until 4 PM.

Andrew and I went the first day to try and get a few “needed” items. He managed to grab the Chacos, towel, and soap that he needed. I purchased some thick wool pants (with suspenders) and a coat. We both got fantastic socks for $0.50 each.

Then, on our way out, we spotted the free pile. It was a huge, huge mountain of boxes of free stuff they simply hadn’t had time (or room) to lay out. This was the gold mine. We sorted through and found name brands like Patagonia, REI, and Nike to put into our sack which was soon overflowing with clothes to layer with.

One of my favourite finds was a Seattle Metro Transit bus schedule from May 1996.

The next day, Sunday, we met up there again at 2 PM for the free stuff.

We didn’t need anything, neither of us did, but we still managed to accumulate. Why did I even bother packing clothes? I can’t believe I’m only staying here for a month. Tonight or tomorrow night, we’re going to go through it all and sort through what we want and don’t want.

After our clothing accumulation, we went grocery shopping and then I realized I should have gotten some t-shirts (I only have 2 or 3 and they’re getting grungy - one is so gross that when I put it on, it feels very un-shirt-like) and maybe a pair of pants (I brought one).

They were already cleaning up so we decided to join in the cleaning (many hands make light work in huge projects like these).

We boxed up all the unsold goods which, unfortunately, were going to end up in the dump.

One woman I volunteered with was Casey. She asked if I needed work. Turns out she owns the pizzareia in town with her husband. I’m supposed to swing by today and talk to them.

I also found Beth, who owns a cello. I’d been looking for her all over the village and asked if anyone knew her at the rummaged sale. The second person I asked turned out to be her.

Volunteering is definitely a top notch way to connect with the community, feel fantastic, and root yourself solid.