If this year’s “Whale of a Sale” is a little light on toys, there’s a very special reason. Rather than being displayed for purchase at Bridgeport United Methodist Church for the Aug. 4-9 sale, the dolls, books, toy trucks and other items have been shipped to southern West Virginia to be placed in the hands of child victims of last month’s devastating floods.

 

“I had a gentleman from church approach me and he was connected with different fire departments and the firemen had been saying that people down there were requesting toys,” said Whale of a Sale Co-Chair Lourie Gerst. “We filled up a pick-up truck with them. We had eight or nine boxes of toys and three garbage bags full of stuffed animals.”

 

Shinnston Fire Department took the items to three different southern West Virginia towns affected by the flood waters which ravaged many homes.

 

“We’re lucky that people have been so generous with these donations so we could send these books and toys to give these children some comfort,” said Co-Chair Sally Altman.

 

And there are still plenty of items – a church basement full – for the upcoming sale; proceeds which benefit a number of area causes, including the Back Pack Food Program, Bi-County Nutrition, Burlington Family Services, CASA, Bridgeport Little League Challenger Division, the Clarksburg Mission, Duff Street United Methodist Church Food Pantry, Flood Buckets, Genesis Youth Center, Good Will Industries, Health Access, Heart & Hand House, Hope, Inc., Salvation Army, Scott’s Run Settlement House, Shepherd’s Corner and Upshur Parish.

 

Some proceeds are also earmarked to provide scholarships to BUMC’s preschool program on an as-needed basis and scholarships to graduating high school seniors.

 

Donations for the sale began rolling in during the spring months and the first part of June the plan was set into motion.

 

“June 3 is when the men of our church came in and set up racks and we ladies started working the next Monday,” Gerst said.

 

The sale will, as always, feature an abundance of household items – from plates and glassware to Christmas decorations – and clothes, paperback books “and a little bit of everything,” she said.

 

Over the past six weeks or so, all items have been sorted and the display is in place.

 

“We basically work Monday through Thursday anywhere between 8 a.m. and noon. We work maybe 15 or 16 hours per week,” Gerst said. “Right now, we’re going through and fine tuning and pricing.”

 

Also serving as co-chairs are Marlen Waters and Susie Whiteman.

 

“It’s a wonderful group and they work together well. It’s a pleasure to work with all of these ladies,” Gerst said. “They have done this for so long that they just know what to do and where everything goes. They just look around, see what needs to be done and they do it.”

Altman, who resides in Florida, comes to Bridgeport each year to work the sale. Her specialty is advertising, she said.

 

Others who are key to the success of the sale are Vicki Baker, Connie Bramer, Arnold Bramer, Lu Rhoades, Betsy Crickard, Jo Ann Guinn, Judy Gehr, Bonnie Mattingly, Regina Miller, Karen Lang, Penni Day Rexrode, Alison and Jennifer Gerst.

 

BUMC is located at 251 Worthington Drive in Bridgeport. An extra day has been added to this year’s sale. Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, Friday, Aug. 5 Saturday, Aug. 6 and Monday, Aug. 8. Monday, items will be reduced to half price. As is tradition, Tuesday, Aug. 9 will be “Bag Day” and feature special deals as the sale wraps up. That day, hours will be 9 a.m.to noon and a brown paper grocery bag full of items can be purchased for $2.

 

Last year, about $12,000 was raised through the sale and that was down from recent previous years.