Last rummage sale at current Unitarian Universalist Church on Aug. 1, 2

The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church will have its last rummage sale at its current location near the new Kroger Marketplace on Robertsville Road on August 1 and 2.

The church is moving from its longtime home there to a new location between Oak Ridge Turnpike and the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, where the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office is housed. The UU church property on Robertsville Road will become part of the Kroger shopping center, known as the Westcott Center.

The semiannual rummage at the Robertsville Road location will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, August 1, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 2. Prices are doubled on Friday evening for the sneak preview sale, a press release said.

ORUUC is located at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

“This will be the last rummage sale in our current location, but plans are already under way to resume the long tradition of having rummage sales starting next year in the church’s new location at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike,” said Betsy Bauer, who for more than two decades has been the sale organizer. “Being advocates for recycling and repurposing, this sale saves items from loading our landfills, and instead finds a home with someone who can reuse it.”

The rummage sale will include easy-to-browse tables of items set out through the Social Hall and classrooms, yard and garden items displayed on the patio, a silent auction that includes pianos, and the Step Above Boutique. This area will feature new and very gently-used, slightly more-expensive items such as art work, designer clothing, jewelry, and collectibles, the press release said.

“For more than 20 years, bargain hunters, treasure seekers, pickers, and those who see the benefit to the community by shopping rummage sales organized by churches and other organizations focused on helping others have charged through the doors at starting time,” the release said. “Buyers have come to rely on the low prices for much-needed or desired items available in the sales.”

Also available are low-cost computers and other electronic devices, all in working order. The feedback received from the bargain shoppers after previous rummage sales are as diverse as the items offered, the release said. For some it is an opportunity to purchase very low cost clothes, shoes and toys for their children that they would not be able to do otherwise. For others, household items including furniture and garden items to help furnish their homes are their great find.

Antique, art, music, and book collectors are often amazed at the bargain prices they paid for their treasures, the release said.

“While this is the last rummage sale at 1500 Oak Ridge Turnpike, we’ll have a moving sale on Saturday, October 11, at this location,” the release said. The sale will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 11 and will include tables, chairs and other furniture, window blinds, various fixtures, and other miscellaneous items,” Bauer said.