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It’s a wrap: Winnetka Congregational Church rummage sale
Jessica Roseberry (left) and Shauncee Johnson (right) compare their purchases in the Winnetka Community House at the end of their first visit to the rummage sale. Both agreed the bargains were worth the three-hour drive from their homes in Marion, Ind. | Kimberly Fornek~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: May 14, 2012 2:26PM
“Wrap it up shoppers!” With only minutes left until the Winnetka Congregational Church’s annual rummage sale ended Thursday afternoon, a volunteer helper sounded the warning in the women’s clothing area.
Another volunteer, Pam Tansey of Northbrook, tried to make one more sale.
Holding up a long-sleeve red jacket, Tansey asked, “Who wears an extra large? This is a beautiful jacket. It shouldn’t go to the Salvation Army.”
Bargain hunters at the storied rummage sale, held in the Winnetka Community House, do not need much arm-twisting. A woman looked over the red jacket Tansey was holding, liked it and got in line to pay for it.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Tansey said. She had arrived at the community house at 7 a.m., the time the sale started.
“But I’ve been here for days setting up, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” Tansey said.
It was after 3 p.m., the time the rummage sale officially ended, when Mitch and Penny Gilliam from Brookville, Ohio, purchased a dresser for $50 for their grandson in Tennessee.
“This will travel 1,000 miles before it reaches its destination,” Mitch Gilliam said.
Their grandson is getting married in June.
“They’re like 19 and 20 years old,” Penny said. “They need things to get started.”
The Gilliams were visiting their daughter, who lives in Winnetka, a few weeks ago, when they saw an entertainment center someone had set out at the curb as trash.
“It matched our furniture set perfectly,” Mitch said. “So we hauled it away.”
Their daughter suggested they should go to the rummage sale May 10 for similar finds.
Jessica Roseberry and Shauncee Johnson were out-of-towners, too. They drove from Marion, Ind. with a friend who had told them about the good bargains to be had at the Winnetka sale.
“It’s about three hours away,” Roseberry said. They arrived earlier in the week, so they would be sure to be ready when the sale opened.
“Our friend spent the first three hours in the infants’ section,” Johnson said. “We had to pull her out to go to lunch.”
The women agreed the bargains were “definitely” worth the drive. “It’s going to be an annual trip,” Roseberry said.
