Church opens doors for its 50th annual rummage sale

Big bargains.

No sales tax.

Cake.

Now that they have your attention, members of the La Jolla United Methodist Church welcome you to their 50th annual Rummage Sale, always a herald of spring on the second Saturday of March.

This year’s Golden Jubilee Sale runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 13 across church grounds at 6063 La Jolla Blvd., transforming the campus into a boutiques mart offering sporting goods, clothing, home furnishings, kitchen tools, electronics, toys, books, infant items and Christmas merchandise. There is even a Men’s Treasures department stocked with briefcases, jackets and golf bags.

Some 110 volunteers have been working since Feb. 28 to collect, sort and tag the donations that have been coming in since last year’s sale. The items have been stashed in church storage areas, sheds, members’ garages and mobile minis in anticipation of the sale. According to co-Chair Margie Herrick: “We just have a lot of stuff. No need to quibble about prices, there are rock-bottom deals here.”

Herrick, who has been heading up the rummage sale for the last “eight or 10 years,” said she is proud to carry on the work of its founder, the late Davy Webb, whose children continue to volunteer at the event.

“We get bargain hunters from all over San Diego and Tijuana who start lining up before the doors open,” she said. “We have coffee and doughnuts for the early birds, then later in the day we sell hot dogs and hamburgers and homemade cake with lunch on the patio.”

Herrick said the sale usually runs smoothly, unless it’s a rainy day, which can clip profits by as much as $2,000. Proceeds from the rummage sale benefit causes sponsored by the United Methodist Women, including missions for women and children.

Herrick said the best-selling items are clothing; they’ve even had wedding dresses available. “I see people taking cell-phone photos of items to see if family or friends want them.”

More than 100 volunteers will work the day of the sale welcoming the cleanup crew from Scout Troop 506 at day’s end.

Co-chair Sandra Coler described the energy around the rummage sale by quoting the words of its founder, Webb: “Our hope is that this sale will be able to continue for many more years. It is the one project that involves the whole church family, and there is a spirit that sale day that is hard to explain.”

• What: 50th annual Rummage Sale
• When: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 13
• Where: La Jolla United Methodist Church, 6063 La Jolla Blvd.
• Details: Half-price sale starts at 1:30 p.m.
• Contact: (858) 454-7108