ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997 TAG: 9704100003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY THE ROANOKE TIMES
WE HAVE ``previewed the sale,'' as they say in yard-sale lingo.
And after 10 years of letting stuff gather in the attics of more than 200 Roanoke Valley Junior Leaguers, here is what Saturday's Bargain Bazaar will look like:
More than 32,000 square feet full of stuff - including actual kitchen sinks.
Enough suitcases to keep the Hotel Roanoke bellhops busy for hours.
Cappuccino makers that have not yet lost their froth.
Enough linens to outfit 100 bedrooms.
So many cribs, car seats and baby strollers that you could line them up end-to-end along the pedestrian walkway between the Hotel Roanoke and the Roanoke City Market.
Enough homemade topiaries to fill every window of Martha Stewart's Westport manor.
Holiday tabletop displays that still have the RSVP price tags on them.
And - deep breath here - multiple TVs, CD players, like-new clothes for kids and adults, bird cages, fish bowls, dog collars, trampolines, a rocking horse, desks, Waverly wallpaper, Roman shades, someone's grandma's Haviland china
And the best part of all: The asking prices range from reasonable to downright cheap.
The quintessential bargain-hunting experience has returned.
Ground rules and a few tips
ARRIVE EARLY. The hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.; the place, the former Harris Teeter building at Hill's Plaza on Hershberger Road (next to Best Products).
Back when the League held this sale every year, a newspaper story noted that 700 shoppers had lined up outside - a half-hour before the doors were even open.
TAKE A LIST. Nancy Carson was a first-year member when the League held its last sale 10 years ago. She advises against the shotgun approach of shopping: ``Go to what you're looking for first, then browse.''
The sale is a great place to pick up first-apartment furniture for your kid heading off to college, she adds. Ditto for baby accessories, holiday items, clothes and books.
NO FOOD, NO PUBLIC REST ROOMS. So go heavy on the Saturday-morning muffin, light on the coffee.
CASH-AND-CARRY ONLY. No checks or credit cards. If you buy a couch in the morning, the League will hold it for you, but it must be carted off the premises by 3 p.m.
RETURNING LATER MAY NOT BE A BAD IDEA. When there's still a lot of inventory left toward the end of the sale, Leaguers have been known to slash prices. ``Sometimes it's `stuff-a-bag-full-for-a-dollar' at the very end, but we'll have to see how it goes,'' says Mollie Elder, assistant chair of the sale.
OBSERVE RULES OF ETIQUETTE - REMEMBER, THIS IS THE JUNIOR LEAGUE. That means if a certain reporter spots the coveted Roman shades first, paws off the merch.
To guard against unpleasantness, the League has employed two off-duty Roanoke police officers. ``They will be armed,'' noted sale chair Laura Frank.
The white-glove image
The Bargain Bazaar has returned after its 10-year hiatus for two reasons:
1. ``To offer nice things to the public at a very reasonable price,'' in Elder's words.
2. To help fund the League's affordable-child-care project, called Care that Counts.
The project has funded scholarships for low-income kids at Greenvale School. It's helped with teen-pregnancy prevention in Hurt Park housing community, parent support groups at the West End Center, after-school tutoring at the YWCA and parent-education at Roanoke's pregnant-teens school.
League members have escorted needy Roanoke kids to the Festival of Trees at Christmas, many of whom had never been downtown before. They've treated them to treats at Hotel Roanoke and made sure that the ``101 Dalmatians'' nightgown at the top of a kid's Christmas-list turned up under the tree.
Asked if the League has finally shed its white-glove image, Laura Frank bristles at the stereotype: ``People don't realize that 70 years ago, their raison d'etre was to assist the community. They just weren't recognized for it.
``Community service has always been the Junior League's reason for being.''
The goal for this year's Bargain Bazaar is to raise $20,000.
So not only is that solid oak silver chest on sale for $12 a great bargain, it's also for a great cause.
The Junior League's Bargain Bazaar, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, the old Harris Teeter building at Hills Plaza, 2800 block of Hershberger Road. 774-3242.
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. JANEL RHODA THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. And for the athleteby CNBin your family: Golf clubs, a pair of golf shoes and a croquet set
are some of the items up for sale at this weekend's bazaar. 2. Two
Roanoke Valley Junior League members discuss the pricing
possibilities of a wood-frame mirror. 3. From their attics to your
shopping bags: Junior League members preparing for Saturday's bazaar
are (from left) Chairman Bobbie Black, Mitzi Oakey, Leighann Butts,
Mollie Elder and Laura Frank. 4. For that Westport, Conn., flair:
Homemade topiaries will be for sale. color.