Dingbat Adventures in the Rural West

Area has plenty of spots to donate extra stuff

By Justine Larsen
Posted 11/10/22

The calendar has rolled over, Halloween has passed yet again, and I look about my overstuffed house and sigh. My Christmas tree is still up, decorated in dog toys, after not being brought down after …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
Dingbat Adventures in the Rural West

Area has plenty of spots to donate extra stuff

Posted

The calendar has rolled over, Halloween has passed yet again, and I look about my overstuffed house and sigh. My Christmas tree is still up, decorated in dog toys, after not being brought down after last Christmas due to a multitude of family emergencies. Granted, I’ve been gone for half a year and only back in Powell just over a month (a story for another time), but my little home, the place I’ve raised a husband, two children, and an assortment of household wildlife is CHOCK FULL. The need to acquire, to have, to keep is often overwhelming. We’ve reached maximum capacity in our tiny home and I know, as a long winter approaches, it has all — or at least much of it — has got to go.

Of course, that begs the question, “where DOES it all go?” In my case, I’m that horrible human who takes pictures of all their kids school projects and then promptly sends them on to their great reward at the recycling center. Even though my kids are ‘big,’ there are what seems to be mountains of outgrown clothes. Granted, nearly every article of clothing, barring the chonies (otherwise known as unmentionables), has been bought second hand or on a serious discount, it is still time to set them free. I’ve picked, dug, and pulled items from the cupboards, drawers, and the single closet in our 760 square foot palace. Each item has been washed, especially the bottoms of all the shoes (my own pet peeve when I look at secondhand shoes to find caked mud on the bottoms… oh, the horror!) and placed in bags to send on to the unsung heroes of our communities … the thrift stores.

I will be the first to say that Powell is blessed with many things, but at the forefront of that list is our stash of wonderful thrift stores. Nearest and dearest to my heart is the St. John’s Thrift Store on the south side of town. This band of merry volunteers has provided our community with DECADES of service to the community of Powell with their exacting gaze of what some might have called in past decades ‘rummage’; the cast aside items of our consumeristic society find new life on their shelves and racks in this tidy shop near the Garland Canal. Additionally, because St. John’s Thrift Store crew is a volunteer organization, proceeds are returned to the community in support of outreach efforts such as Backpack Blessings, Crisis Intervention Services, Loaves and Fishes, and other community organizations supported by this group of dedicated individuals through their service. Worldwide, thrifting or re-commerce, as it has been stylishly renamed, saves MILLIONS of pounds of fast fashion and household goods from landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generate 16 million tons of textile waste a year. The service provided by our local thrift stores benefits our community by both eliminating some of that waste while providing an economical resource to stretch a family’s dollars with gently used garments.

Other shops I enjoy frequenting benefit Habitat for Humanity. Both stores, on Bent Street and by the west end watertower, provide a great donation destination for items seeking new use, especially for those home repair projects. After surviving a long-term renovation project in my household, I’ve shared the abundance of supplies not used, most purchased locally, with the Habitat stores and hope all those switch plates and junction boxes will find new purpose with someone else. Knowing I’ve eliminated a few boxes of electrical supplies from my garage makes me almost giddy!

I also enjoy the creativity I see at the Back Alley Boutique on Bent Street. I have located some fine things there and my daughter selected a delightful design for her senior prom dress a couple of springs ago. Unlike the taffeta monster I wore to my prom in the late 80s, she will truly use her dress again and I may even be able to borrow it! Many of the items adorning their walls are almost exactly the high-style of the 1960s that dressed my mother as she began her teaching career. I even spotted some opulent box purses for sale that are by the same designer of the one I brought back to Powell from the top shelf of my mother’s closet and will now cherish as I find a place to display it in my home.

While I spent five and a half months out of state, closing and liquidating the home I was raised in following my mother’s death, I missed the opening of a few new thrift stores in Powell and Cody, but they are on my list to visit. As I emptied my childhood home in the San Joaquin Valley of California, I appreciated the role of thrift stores and vintage shops, especially the Discovery Shop that supports the American Cancer Society in Visalia. I made many trips to these useful establishments, donating so many of the things that made my mother’s house a home, knowing they would be shepherded to renewed life after her death.

Of course, judiciousness has to be a part of the donation process. I remember a very wise woman who spent many decades volunteering at St. John’s explaining to me the philosophy behind exacting eyes that viewed the donations. As she said, “no child should be given a dirty toy, whether it’s new or not.” She was absolutely correct in that directive. If it’s dirty, clean it before donation. If it’s broken, dispose of it. If it’s mismatched, call it eclectic. Respecting those who will be sorting the donated goods needs consideration, too. Not every thrift store has washing facilities and donations left outside of business hours often results in usable items being damaged beyond repair. We all know how quickly the weather changes in Wyoming, so don’t risk your thoughtful donation becoming another bag or box chucked into the dumpster because it was exposed to the elements. Check zippers, check pockets, and donate with as discerning an eye as you would have while shopping for your next thrift store treasure. Viva la vintage!

 

(Justine Larsen is a Powell resident who has worked in the school system and formerly owned a coffee shop.)

Comments