Members of Ellijay Good Samaritan Catholic Church will hold a clothing and shoe sale outdoors in the grassy area beside the church’s social hall, Saturday, July 25, from 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
If needed, part of the sale could be held inside the social hall at 55 Church Street and it will go on rain or shine, noted Debi Slaughter, one of the event’s organizers.
“We will be under tents and we would prefer to have as much of it outside as possible, but we do have a lot of stuff so it could be that we fill both areas. We are encouraging people to wear masks and be considerate to other shoppers,” Slaughter said.
The fall flea market presented by Ellijay Good Samaritan, which usually draws hundreds to the Lions Club Fairgrounds over two days each September, will not take place this year due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, confirmed Jack Planchard, Grand Knight of the church’s Knights of Columbus chapter. The smaller sale will be held instead, he added.
“We rely on so many volunteers to make the flea market happen,” added Planchard.
“We have a lot of retirees who volunteer and we felt over half of them would be reluctant to volunteer this year. There are a lot of people in the community who rely on the flea market for inexpensive back to school clothes, so we came up with the idea of doing a limited clothing and shoe sale where we could sell items on a smaller scale and do it in a safe manner. We’re doing it in late July to give them an option to get those items for their family.”
The event will feature clothing and shoes for children and adults donated by church members.
A fill-a-bag for $4 option that’s been popular at past church flea markets will also be offered at the sale, Slaughter said.
“It’s kind of like our signature,” she added.
“We’ll have all sizes of clothing for kids, men and women. It will be $4 for a bag of clothes and shoes will be $3 and under.
If somebody wants something like just one pair of jeans, we can sell them that, too.”
“We will have a limited staff and the (customers) can pick out clothes, put them in a plastic bag and check out. There doesn’t have to be close proximity,” added Planchard.
Proceeds from the clothing sale will benefit the same organizations as the annual flea market — the local chapters of The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Knights of Columbus, as well as the church’s youth group.
Additional small church sales may take place before another full flea market is held next year.
“This sale is completely open to the public and, if it is a success, we may do a few more small things where we sell (other items). We’re trying to move the stuff we’ve collected over the year in a safe manner,” Planchard said.
“We figured we will do another one in October for Christmas stuff. We’re still collecting (items) and we have a full storage unit,” Slaughter added.