A couple of instances of overzealous bargain shopping aside, the Dresden Swap Shop and the town’s attached transfer station have been in operation for about 16 years and continue to grow with each passing season.
Mary Haven, Swap Shop volunteer coordinator, approached selectmen during a Thursday night board meeting to see about signing a policy regarding the transfer station swap shop operation. According to Board of Selectmen Chair John Ottum, a handful of people have been taking more than their fair share of the items offered free to all. Ottum also mentioned an instance in which there were some intoxicated individuals causing problems for the transfer station manager, Kirt James.
Selectmen agreed they did not need to sign a contract on the management of the town’s recycling facility. Ottum said all of the policies governing the transfer station swap shop are overseen by the town, but the person running the operation is authorized to turn away any trouble makers.
“I’ve been amazed how well Kirt has handled the problems,” Haven said.
As James put it on Saturday, the program overall works very well. In operation for at least 16 years, the town put in a community garden last summer, as well as planted apple trees, a strawberry patch and grape vines.
Driving into the Rt. 127 location, one of the more noticeable features is a skating rink with a nearby shed, which depicts a colorful farm landscape, painted by local artist Carl Wilkins. The transfer station building, painted red like the town skating rink shed, has two sections: a central recycle center and an adjoining swap shop.
The free items, which residents from Dresden and Richmond drop off at the transfer station and swap shop, are categorized. An overflow storage area on the second floor holds seasonal items and overstock of medical supplies (such as walkers and canes). The shop, which is completely run by volunteers, contains books, clothes and small household goods.
“If you do take items from here,” James said. “They are for your own personal use, not to stock your yard sale. If you have something you need, that’s what we’re here for.”
James also pointed out a bulletin board where residents can put notices for larger items, such as a couch or chair. He said it works a lot like the locally published buy/sell/trade magazine, Uncle Henry’s.
In addition to providing good homes for all of the excess stuff Dresden and Richmond residents bring to the transfer station, the recycling program has other benefits. It keeps the items from ending up in a landfill.
“It helps give things a second chance,” James said. “They say, ‘one man’s junk is another man’s treasure’. Well, they have a lot of treasures here.”
Shop volunteer Albera Cope said the most popular items going out of the swap shop this winter are children’s clothes. They don’t stay on the shelf for very long, particularly toddler clothes, she said.
Cope started the shop with her husband 15 years ago. Today they have between eight and 10 volunteers, who sort clothes, pack boxes, stack books and generally run the shop.
“We had two sawhorses and a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood,” Cope said, recalling the first time they opened. “We just kept getting more and more, so we had to build this other room.”
Items the shop doesn’t have room for, or things that can be categorized as “seasonal” are carried up to the second floor storage area. Other free items are located in the rest of the transfer station building. A snowboard leaned against one wall. A bin with recycled cardboard and egg cartons stood by the door to the transfer station office.
A large, blue Goodwill bin took up a section toward the front, near the outside door. James said items that don’t move out of the swap shop go to Goodwill. The organization puts all of the items to good use, he said.
A shelf marked “Center Safety Sand for Seniors” held several plastic containers. James said volunteers sweep up the sand from the road and parking lot and put it into the kitty litter containers. James said the containers are easier for elderly people to handle, since they are just about three gallons apiece and have large handles. The transfer station gives the containers to elderly residents for their driveways and doorsteps.
By recycling the road sand, residents are also keeping it from washing down into the river in spring. James said it also cuts down on the number of people who use sand from the town’s sand and salt shed. So far this winter, the transfer station has given out 90 jugs of the sand to local residents.
Other town projects will sprout up in the spring, when residents gear up for the community garden project. They already have a dug well with an electric pump for irrigation and, by the sound of it, plenty of interest in the community.
The transfer station is open Thursday 1-4 p.m. (winter) and 1- 5 p.m. (summer), Saturday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (winter) and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (summer) and Sunday 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. For more information call the Dresden recycling center/ transfer station/ swap shop at 737-4758.
