After the Bazaar – a Christmas in November Sale

by Marian Fuchs

A week after the Holiday Bazaar, Collington had its second holiday shopping event on November 10th.  This was the Christmas in November sale put on by the 0pporttunity 0utlet (OO) Shop.   It was a festive affair, especially after Grant Bagley got the Christmas music (the very first of the season) going in the Auditorium.  Tables displaying holiday gifts were arrayed around the room, and 00 Shop manager, Joe Howard, had priced things to sell. There were bargains to be had – most prices ranged down from $3 to free!  Unbeatable!  The Glass Case wing of the 00 Shop had more special Christmas gift items for sale – several tables of them.   They, too, were doing a brisk business.

At the end of the sale, resident Larry Harris took possession of all the left-over goods and drove them to a church thrift shop in Southern Maryland.  So the recycling and re-use will continue.

These Collington sales are win-win-win-win events.   Here are the four wins:

  1. Goodies donors get to downsize and get rid of things they don’t want.
  2. Things that might otherwise have been thrown away get reused (as opposed to swelling landfills).
  3. The money raised by the sale of the goodies funds neat activities for residents
  4. Shoppers have the fun of getting inexpensive gifts, cards, music and plenty of sparkly bling for their holiday season in a cheerful and friendly setting.

At this year’s sale, some of the happiest shoppers were members of two refugee families adopted by Mary Kim.  When she learned about the families, Marion Henry made a substantial donation to both of them, and they used her gift to make substantial purchases, leaving the sale with bulging bags of goodies.

Next day Joe Howard reported:  “Thanks, all of you for what you did toward making another Christmas in November sale so successful  

  • The Shop earned about $450 – all going to the Residents Association
  • Glass Cases earned $150 – all going to the Residents Association
  • The Shop was able to clear out much needed space in the Furniture Room
  • We were able to recycle many items provided by residents which would likely have been discarded or clutter their storage space.
  • We provided a happy time for lots of happy shoppers – and volunteers.”

Some of the Collington resident happy shoppers and salespersons are shown below.