Great deals, tasty food await at this weekend’s Clemmons UMC event
Published 12:10 am Thursday, October 11, 2018
The housewares department at the 2017 Clemmons UMC fall bazaar. Submitted photo
The furniture department at the 2017 Clemmons UMC fall bazaar. Submitted photo
Rosanne Peacock, Deanna Jester and Priscilla Robinette at the 2017 Clemmons UMC fall bazaar. Submitted photo
Shoppers at the 2017 Clemmons UMC fall bazaar. Submitted photo.
Shoppers browse the clothing department at the 2017 Clemmons UMC fall bazaar. Submitted photo
By Eric Olson
For the Clemmons Courier
Two days of fun, food and great bargains await attendees of this weekend’s Clemmons United Methodist Church Fall Bazaar and Yard Sale.
Proceeds from the event will go toward supporting various CUMC ministries and missions, the latter of which will help poor families and disaster relief efforts in the U.S. and abroad.
Located at 3700 Clemmons Road, near the intersection with Lewisville-Clemmons Road, the church is set to hold its second-annual event Friday, Oct. 12. and Saturday, Oct. 13. The hours for the first day will be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday’s bazaar and yard sale will run from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.
The cost to shop at the yard sale is free. Tickets for the bazaar are $5 per person and $20 for a family of four or more, which entitles them to get plenty of good food (including a bake sale, hot dogs and a chili cookoff) and take part in fun activities.
Most folks, though, are expected to attend looking for gently-used and donated items at bargain prices.
Among the things for sale will be books and puzzles, women’s accessories, clothing for children, women and men, toys, baby items, crafts, “elegant junque,” furniture and accessories, holiday items, linens, small appliances, electronics, sporting goods, yard equipment and tools.
Family activities at the bazaar, in addition to the yard sale, will include two funhouse jumps, an obstacle course, and a corn hole tournament on the church yard.
In addition, a silent auction will be held all day Friday until 7 p.m.
Items purchased at the church event can be paid for by cash or checks; not, however, by credit card.
Organizers say the sale will occupy display areas across two floors of the Clemmons UMC building and is expected to be larger than the 2017 event.
“We hope the silent auction will be huge this year and it will be set up in a more visible area of the church,” says Rosanne Peacock, one of the fall bazaar’s co-chairs. “On Friday night, to attract more young people, Rev. Clark Chilton, the youth minister, has agreed to work with us and help coordinate that evening’s activities. The Methodist men will also be cooking hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings. So, with that $5 ticket you can enjoy a great meal and take part in the fun events.”
Peacock, herself, has worked tirelessly to plan and make the bazaar and yard sale an integral part of the Clemmons UMC calendar, along with her co-chairs Priscilla Robinette and Deanna Jester, as well as the many other volunteers. Before she and her husband moved to Bermuda Run from Boone 2½ years ago, she was on the organizing committee for a similar bazaar at her church there that had run for 33 years.
“Last year, we didn’t know very many people here just yet, but my friend Priscilla Robinette had gone to the same church with us in Boone and she helped get it together here,” Peacock explains. “We were able to get someone to loan us a large truck to store donated items. I thought that we might raise $5,000 last year, but it ended up we raised $19,000. This time, we had a trailer, two climate-controlled storage units and space in the church to store donations.”
She adds that she and her fellow planning-committee members thought the bazaar and yard sale would, if nothing else, help church members get to know each other better.
“Clemmons UMC has three services now and people are so busy, so we just saw it as a great way to connect everybody and do something good for the community,” says Peacock.
Kathy Giff, director of the church’s Discipleship and Lay Ministry, adds that last year’s fall bazaar helped fund on-going overseas mission and building-team trips to Guatemala and Jamaica, among other causes. She expects this week’s event to do the same for next year’s missions to those countries. Money will also be used to support local ministries within Clemmons UMC.
She, too, points to the how the planning and execution of the bazaar within the church has brought its members closer, in the process creating a great sense of camaraderie and fellowship that should last far after the event is over.
“To me, it has been so neat to see the behind-the-scenes effort that goes on all year in advance of a two-day event,” Giff continues. “Our people take this to heart, work together and grow their teams to make it a success. It provides a wonderful arena for our church members to share their gifts and talents in organizing it.”
The heartwarming moments she heard about from last year’s bazaar also solidified in her mind that the idea for the event was spot-on.
“The one that immediately comes to mind concerned a Hispanic woman who came by and after realizing what terrific bargains there were at the sale,” explains Giff, “she finished her shopping, then left to bring back many of her friends to do the same because she knew that they would be able to buy so much more than if they had gone to a retail store.
“These little stories touch you and give you an idea of the difference it can make in the community.”
Added Peacock, “For some families, $5 or $10 will buy a whole lot. That helps a lot of people in a lot of ways.”
