The Miles Hospital League rummage sale, a fixture in the Damariscotta area for decades, has been cancelled, a victim of bad weather, skyrocketing expenses and volunteer burn out.
The event has an impressive history – beginning as an auction in 1949. The rummage sale as most people know it today dates back to 1961.
Ruth Anne Bryant, the event chair for the last five years, said the event had just gotten too big and too expensive.
“I told the [Miles Hospital League] board there is a better use for the money than putting it to the field (where the event was held),” she said.
Last year’s event, postponed from July by the driving rains of early summer, was held in October; however, additional chilly rains turned David Chapman’s grassy fields into ruts forcing some patrons to slog through mud to get to the bargains.
“We know the event will be missed, as some folks plan their summer around it seeking fun and bargains. It has been great, but it is getting harder and harder to put on and costs are escalating,” said Bryant.
The postponement meant the region’s summer visitors, who provided a number of valuable volunteers and customers, missed the event.
This year, the rummage sale took in some $93,000 but was only able to donate $43,000 to the hospital.
The reason was nearly $50,000 in expenses including $22,000 for seven large tents and additional gravel needed to fill mud holes in parking and exhibition areas, plus port-a-johns and on and on, she said. Recently, Bryant said price for tents was going to jump an additional $3000.
The chairwoman offered a special thanks to longtime volunteers and especially to the Chapman family who donated their field, home, barn and even tools to rummage sale volunteers.
“The community owes them a huge debt of gratitude,” she said.
Instead of the huge rummage sale, the League has consolidated its fundraising efforts by opening a new thrift shop in the Wheeler Building at 114 Church Street, once the home to the Wheeler and Agren appliance stores.
The old Miles Thrift shop on Main Street will close Saturday. The final week is about selling all the final merchandise for just $1.
The rummage sale has a long history beginning in 1931 with a small sale of used goods in the Edwin Metcalf Livery Barn. This year, the seven huge tents of donated goods ranged from electronics, furniture, books, and clothing and was tended to by more than 400 volunteers.
“It was just getting too big. It had become a full time job,” said Bryant.
The League has made a deal with Wheeler to rent the first floor for two years then purchase the building, she said.
The new location will still feature high-end “stuff” once featured at the rummage sale. The building will also provide space for a meeting room and a basement storage facility.
“With a year ’round operation, we should be able to generate more than $100,000 for the hospital and that is the idea in the first place,” she said.
Joy Walker, the present manager of the thrift shop, a professional who has managed Mikasa Outlet Stores in Freeport and Kittery, has designed the new location and will continue to oversee its operation.
The new location is scheduled to open on March 1.
Until that date, those wishing to drop off materials or arrange a pick up or to volunteer can call 563-4379.
