Thrift shop in Lyndonville inundated with Christmas decorations
Photos by Ginny Kropf: Ruth Hedges is dwarfed among a sea of Christmas decorations which have been donation to the Lyndonville United Methodist Church. They have received so many decorations they have had to partition off part of their Fellowship Hall to display just a portion of them. The community is invited to visit the church’s Hope Resales Thrift Shop and shop for holiday decorations of all kinds.
LYNDONVILLE – Christmas may be a couple of months away, but at the United Methodist Church in Lyndonville, it looks like Christmas is already here.
The church has recently received an abundance of Christmas decorations – so many, in fact, they don’t have room to display them.
Ruth Hedges is heading up a sale of Christmas decorations of all kinds at Hope Resales. The merchandise is set up in the church’s fellowship hall and may be purchased during regular hours Hope Resales is open.
Ruth Hedges, who was instrumental in starting the churches thrift shop, Hope Resales, said they are struggling to find room to put all the decorations – all beautiful and some unique.
The donations started coming in right after the thrift shop was allowed to reopen during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I think people must have had time to clean out their houses during the pandemic, because the donations began to pour in,” Hedges said.
While church volunteers don’t know where to display all the items, Hedges said they are also grateful for a community which supports their Hope Resales Thrift Store.
Hope Resales opened March 30, 2019 and the church was planning a big one-year celebration for the end of March this year, when they had to close. Ruth and her husband Doug had come back from Florida on a Thursday to get ready for the celebration, and on Saturday they closed the store.
On a positive note, the church used that time to renovate their space in the church’s basement. They painted the floors and shelving and bought new racks, which gave the store a more organized look, Hedges said.
Support for the thrift shop has been overwhelming, and they have so many donations of merchandise, they could use more room.
Then the problem arose of where to display the tons of Christmas decorations which started coming in.
An end of the fellowship hall upstairs in the church was finally partitioned off and tables set up and filled with candles, figurines, Santas, stockings, dolls, tree toppers, ornaments, china and more. The floor is lined with tubs of Christmas lights, garlands and wreaths. More boxes line the hall, which have not yet been unpacked.
An assortment of angel tree toppers fills a table in the Fellowship Hall of the Lyndonville United Methodist Church. The church has recently received donations of so many Christmas decorations, they don’t have room to display them.
The Christmas decorations are on sale during regular hours of Hope Resales, which are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Hours may change after the end of October, Hedges said.
Customers should enter through the basement entrance of Hope Resales on the north side of the building.
Hedges also wants the public to know they have an assortment of good winter coats in many sizes. They have also acquired nursing scrubs, a selection of XXX men’s clothing, Beanie Babies with tags on, Halloween costumes and a large collection of Barbie dolls.
Hedges would like to expand the thrift shop with more crafting items and yarns.
To entice shoppers, Hedges has begun putting together gift baskets on different themes. One is a scrapbooking basket with more than $100 worth of related merchandise in it.
Profits from the thrift shop are divided half to the church and the other half to local and global missions.
In keeping with Health Department regulations during the pandemic, customers are required to wear a mask and maintain social distancing. A limit of three will be allowed in a room at one time, unless members of the same family.
The Lyndonville United Methodist Church is located at 102 North Main St. More information is available on their Facebook page.
