Covid twist on annual fall fest
Sep. 17—PLATTSBURGH — The Plattsburgh United Methodist Church Book Sale and Take-Out Chicken BBQ on Saturday is a new twist on a COVID-style fall festival.
Chicken, $6 per half, will be served from 11 a.m. until sold out at the church located at 127 Beekman St. in Plattsburgh.
The Book Sale will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
SILVER LINING
Due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, the church decided to offer take-out in lieu of the sit-down meal inside the church hall, which enabled the book people such as Dick Ward, chair, and organizers, Gina Gratton and Joan Janson, to fill the hall, almost end-to-end with books.
"This is the first year we've done it differently," Gratton said.
"In the past, Dick collected books all yearlong from auctions and wherever."
The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 canceled last year's book sale.
"And we got rid of all the books we had at the last sale," she said.
"We started from nothing. We've been wanting to do it this way for a long time. We had a rummage sale in August. The day after the rummage sale closed, we started collection for the books. So, we had one month to collect."
The organizers collected books from the congregation.
"We put out the word that anybody could drop off books for that month at certain times, and we got an amazing response," Gratton said.
"Last week, someone, a relative of theirs died, so they donated a lot. We think we have better books actually because they are newer books and they are more current. There are books that people just read or it seems that way in a way. We certainly don't have a shortage, so it's working."
Besides the church community, people in the community-at-large have donated books, too.
"So, it's really been wonderful," Gratton said.
"And then we have the Food Shelf in and out all the time. So that gives you a lot more people that you have contact with."
The sale is a great way to recycle books and score great reads at a bargain-basement price.
"We don't really care that we make a lot of money, but whatever money we make will go into our budget and some of that does go to missions," Gratton said.
"We set up the tables right after the rummage sale also and just were ready to start sorting whenever they came in. So we have just been able to gradually sort them as they came in, too. Joan is really our sorter extraordinaire."
EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE
Janson loves books.
"I have been going to the book sale and working at the book sale for years now," she said.
"I'm happy to do that. The goal is to get books into the hands of readers. That's what I want. Somebody who will enjoy reading a book. Because of that I tend to be the one who is hyper vigilant about organization."
All the fiction is in alphabetical order by author.
"I want to separate out the romance fiction from the thriller-suspense from the general fiction," she said.
"All the hardcovers will be together. All the soft covers will be together. When it comes to nonfiction, we want the cookbooks in one area. We want the self-help in another area. We want the earth science in another area."
There are books about art, music, foreign languages as well as media section with CDs, DVDs and VHS.
"As far as I'm concerned, somebody who wants to browse needs to come into not into a jumble but something that is well organized," Janson said.
"That's where I see myself fitting into this sale as that I want to make sure everything is on the shelf in order so people can enjoy finding books that will make their heart sing that they like reading."
Saturday's Book Sale is on a scale never seen before.
"We're cutting off donations the end of today," she said.
"We still have to things on shelves and organized. There's still a lot of work to be done. Unfortunately this year, they are only having the sale one day. Almost a month of setting up and getting ready for it, and it's only happening between 9 and 6 on Saturday. Then, it's over. Next year, we're talking about having it Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a three-day sale that will enable more people to visit."
Hardcovers are $1. Soft covers are 50 cents. Bundles of magazines are 25 cents.
"It's inexpensive," Janson said.
"I tell people this, if you think you'll like a book take it because it's so inexpensive you don't want to miss out. We've got a larger section of children's books than we've ever, ever had before."
Selections include coloring books, activity books, and how-to-make costumes books.
"We got things that parents can read to children, and we've got things for the kids to read themselves all the way up to young adult," she said.
"Our kids section is bigger than it's ever been before for which I'm grateful. With COVID, I think having things for children is even more important."
BIG QUESTIONS
The book sale's faith and spirituality section also expanded.
"That's huge," she said.
"This year, spirituality and religion is very large. We've got not only people who are Christians who have donated but also other religions and books that are questioning the veracity of Christianity and I think people who want to delve in and look at some of the questions, we've got books that will help them find answers."
Email Robin Caudell:
Twitter:@RobinCaudell
