{"id":41215,"date":"2013-07-26T07:30:12","date_gmt":"2013-07-26T12:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=41215"},"modified":"2013-07-27T07:28:59","modified_gmt":"2013-07-27T12:28:59","slug":"council-on-aging-garage-sale-something-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2013\/07\/26\/council-on-aging-garage-sale-something-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Council on Aging garage sale underway"},"content":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/<\/i><\/b>independent feature writer<\/i><\/p>\n

\"Volunteer<\/a>
Volunteer Lloyd Marvin helps rearrange items for the Van Wert County Council on Aging’s annual garage sale fundraiser, now under way at the Senior Center on Fox Road. (Cindy Wood\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is, quite literally, the garage sale to end all garage sales.<\/p>\n

The Van Wert County Council on Aging\u2019s annual warehouse sale started yesterday and droves of bargain-hunters were on the hunt for the deal of the day.<\/p>\n

Celia Collins of Lima made the trip over with her daughter, Christa, and they were hoping to find some clear Christmas lights they could use for an upcoming October wedding.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t believe the things we\u2019ve found at garage sales this summer that we\u2019re using for her wedding,\u201d Collins said. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten a lot of ideas off of Pinterest, and my daughter\u2019s friend told us about this sale, so I thought we\u2019d drive over and check it out. I\u2019m glad we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the pair didn\u2019t find the lights they were looking for, \u201cwe found a whole lot of other stuff we\u2019re going to use,\u201d Collins said with a laugh. \u201cI don\u2019t even know how all this is going to fit in my car.\u201d<\/p>\n

The annual sale is one of the Council on Aging\u2019s biggest fundraisers, and proceeds from the event will primarily be used to provide fuel for the agency\u2019s transportation program. Over the last three months, the agency has made over 900 transports taking area senior citizens to a variety of medical appointments in Van Wert, as well as surrounding counties.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a big bite to the budget, but proceeds from the annual garage sale help alleviate the impact of skyrocketing fuel costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do it for fuel primarily,\u201d Executive Director Kevin Matthews said. \u201cMy gosh, the vehicles just kill you. There aren\u2019t a lot of people, probably about 15, on the PASSPORT program, and, to be honest, some people just can\u2019t contribute because they just don\u2019t have the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local taxpayers have long supported the agency\u2019s efforts, and renewed two tax levies in 2011 to help provide funding for a variety of programs offered by the COA. The Van Wert Senior Center, purchased by the agency in 2009, offers senior citizens a recreational facility, as well as serving as a hub for the growing transportation program. Senior citizens can also purchase low-cost meals Monday through Friday at the center.<\/p>\n

Matthews said he\u2019s grateful for the community\u2019s support and backing, which helps the agency to continue providing vital services for area seniors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of really nice stuff. It\u2019s kind of unbelievable how much stuff we have. I think another thirty feet on the warehouse would have come in really handy,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cpeople in the community have been very generous and given us some pretty awesome stuff to sell, which helps us a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthews also thanked the many volunteers who have helped prepare for the sale, specifically mentioning long-time volunteer and Council on Aging board member Lloyd Marvin, who Matthews said went above and beyond the call of duty. \u201cI tell you what, I couldn\u2019t have done this without him,\u201d Matthews said of Marvin. \u201cI think he\u2019s been out here probably forty hours a week for the last three or four weeks helping get this sale ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marvin, who was busy arranging items on a table, said he\u2019s happy to help out wherever he can. \u201cAs you can see, we have quite an overabundance of items again this year,\u201d Marvin said, adding that volunteers have helped move furniture, wash dishes, or price items.<\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s dismally hot weather was not a good time for the volunteers, but it didn\u2019t stop them from preparing for the sale. \u201cThere were a couple of days there that I thought we might melt out here,\u201d Marvin said with a laugh. \u201cWe were doing a lot of washing and cleaning of items, but I think overall, it\u2019s turned out pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the agency made approximately $8,500 in proceeds from the sale, and Matthews is hoping to top that number this year. \u201cIt\u2019s good weather, so hopefully everyone will come out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sale continues today from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and again on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to noon. The sale will also run next weekend as well. The Van Wert Senior Center is located at 220 Fox Road. For more information, call 419.238.5011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CINDY WOOD\/independent feature writer It is, quite literally, the garage sale to end all garage sales. The Van Wert County Council on Aging\u2019s annual warehouse sale started yesterday and droves of bargain-hunters were on the hunt for the deal of the day. Celia Collins of Lima made the trip over with her daughter, Christa, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-31 19:10:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}