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“When is the thrift store opening?”
“Are you taking donations yet?”
As president of the First & Second Thrift Store Board of Directors, I’m barraged with these questions daily. What was I thinking when I accepted that position?
Actually, I’ve enjoyed volunteering for the thrift store, but I never signed up for this particular gig. None of us did. It’s just the way things go.
I expect all of us have moved to a new apartment or home, and it’s a lot of work. Well, multiply that by a hundred. I may be exaggerating, but I sure hope we never have to do this again.
I’ve always been a sound sleeper, but moving, storing, and moving again as we wait for the building to be finished has been the cause of many a sleepless night. I wake up worrying about whether we’ll have enough volunteers, when the painting will get done, if our sink cabinets will arrive on time, etc. etc. etc. So much to think about.
As many of you know, the thrift store is relocating into the old Birchbark building on First Avenue (once Massey Ford), and the Cook County Real Estate Investment Group is scrambling to get our space renovated. We had to vacate our storage garages on June 17th, a month later than we’d expected; and sadly, the store space was FAR from finished.
Shelf builders, l to r: Jerry Wilkes, Don Grant, Bob Lamond, Steve Noble, Phil Kruse. Not pictured: Keith Morris. Photo courtesy of Ann Mershon
Thankfully, construction teams worked double time to get our back storeroom finished in time for a team of guys to bang out storage shelves for our bins and merchandise. Display racks and shelves were piled helter-skelter in the retail area, gathering dust as they waited for wall painting and trim work to be completed. It’s been a lot of work, and everyone has pulled hard to help.
We had sixteen volunteers (most retirees) move all the store equipment from Bennie’s Garage, and six stalwart men built the storage shelves for us. Store volunteers have been busy organizing bins, sorting through donations, and piling up rejects for the Goodwill store in Duluth.
I have to say (once again) that we’re all thankful for the generosity of this community, both in donations and volunteer hours. Cook County Rocks!
So, what lies ahead? We hope to be open by July 10th, but who knows? We still don’t have plumbing or electricity—or even light in the storage room. All these things should be happening soon, along with efforts to set up the retail space and start moving merchandise into the store. In due time, I guess.
Then maybe I can start sleeping through the night again.
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