SUNDAY MISSOURIAN
N E W S
Bargain hunters relish treasures
Hundreds of early
risers flock to MU’s
rummage sale.
By MICHAEL SEWALL
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
It’s 4:30 Saturday morning,
still dark. A heavy fog hovers
above the bleachers of Memo-
rial Stadium. The only noises
are birds chirping, streetlights
buzzing and the fading sound
of cars passing. A car pulls
up and a woman in a yellow
volunteer shirt gets out. It’s
Janet Kimmons, a volunteer
coordinator with the Salvation
Army, who showed up early
expecting a large crowd.
“They’ll show up anytime
now,” Kimmons said.
And they did.
Most said they came for bar-
gains or shopping for school.
Others said “insomnia and idi-
ocy” and “early bird gets the
worm.”
MU student Ray Mitchell
and Pooneh Bagher, a post-
doctoral fellow at MU, were
the first members of what was
soon to be a long line.
“Is there some garage sale
thing here?” Mitchell said. The
“garage sale” he asked about
was Tiger Treasures, a rum-
mage sale of items donated by
Students’ trash is another’s treasure. Patrons wait with their
morning finds in the checkout line at the second annual Tiger
Treasures sale on Saturday.
City Council, advisory boards try to improve relations
A work session
was held to better
communication.
By KOURTNEY GEERS
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
For the first time, four of
Columbia’s advisory boards
and commissions were able to
meet with the City Council in
an effort to improve commu-
nications and facilitate better
relations.
During the City Council’s
work session Saturday morn-
ing, representatives from
GetAbout Columbia, the Plan-
ning and Zoning Commission,
the Water and Light Advisory
Board and the Environment
and Energy Commission came
before the council to introduce
ideas and voice their concerns.
The groups were chosen as
priorities by the council.
MU students, collected in MU
residence halls, Greek houses
and university student apart-
ments. The official start time
was 7 a.m., but by 5:30 a.m.
a line wrapping around the
east side stands had already
formed. Each of the “early
birds” paid $5 to enter at 6
a.m.
Mitchell and Bagher didn’t
have a problem waking up
to be the first in line — they
didn’t sleep. Mitchell heard
about the sale from a co-
worker at Eastside Tavern,
where he got off his shift at
1:30 a.m. He and Bagher then
killed time getting a late night
breakfast at IHOP, and then
Waffle House, before heading
to Memorial Stadium.
They said they were bargain
hunters and fans of thrift
stores.
“Look at us,” Bagher said,
describing hers and Mitchell’s
thrift store clothes.
Columbia College student
Meredith Green also showed
up early with friends and said
she liked bargains.
“I want the best picks,” said
Green, who was hoping to
find a TV and a coffee table,
among other things.
But Green said her thrifti-
ness is nothing compared
JOHN HOOK/Missourian
“At 30 minutes each, we
were only able to meet with so
many commissions. We picked
the ones that were impor-
tant to meet with prior to the
retreat and budget process,”
Sixth Ward Councilwoman
Barbara Hoppe said.
Hoppe indicated that prior to
this meeting, communication
was less than ideal.
“Occassionally, there would
be some meetings. There real-
ly has not been much commu-
nication formally. If you were
interested in communicating
with your councilperson, you
could call up the chair or talk
to someone when you see them
in the store or downtown,”
Hoppe said.
Council members are
pleased to see that a change is
taking place.
“There has been an inter-
est since I have been on the
June 1, 2008 — 9A
Treasure hunters search for clothing and other items Saturday morning at the Tiger Treasures
rummage sale at Memorial Stadium. Those at the beginning of the line for the 6 a.m. opening
had been waiting almost two hours. Admission was $5 before 7 a.m. and free after.
to that of her aunt, who told
Green about Tiger Treasures.
“She calls me every time she
finds a garage sale,” Green
said.
Boonville resident Helen
Sutton described herself as
a frequent garage saler. She
said she goes to garage sales
around Boonville almost every
weekend, most times just to
see what is available. Sutton
runs a day care out of her
home and said she finds a lot
of toys for children.
“You never know what you’ll
come across,” Sutton said.
When the time finally came
for the early birds to enter,
the line had amassed to about
800 people, Tiger Treasures
coordinator Steve Burdic said.
When the gate opened, the
crowd rushed through, intent
on finding the best items they
could and beating others to the
punch.
Inside, frenzied shoppers
jogged between the various
council to pay more attention
to the work of the boards and
commissions and to have more
official interaction,” Hoppe
said.
Each group expressed their
gratitude for the opportunity.
John Ott, who was repre-
senting GetAbout Columbia,
said, “The attention of the
whole council outside of a
council meeting and in a work
session is rare so it was a
great chance to talk to them
about the project.”
In preparation for the meet-
ing, the council sent a ques-
tionnaire to each board in
order to gauge concerns and
priorities that needed to be
addressed.
Responses varied from bud-
get concerns to fundamental
alterations to the city’s char-
ter.
Some responses addressed
areas — clothing, appliances,
electronics. Within minutes,
almost every television, couch
and refrigerator was claimed,
and the people who failed to
arrive sooner were the ones
who suffered.
“You can’t get here early
enough,” Columbia resident
Steve Harris said.
Even the early birds couldn’t
catch all the worms. Green
found the coffee table, couch
and television stand she
wanted but couldn’t reach the
televisions before they were
spoken for.
Burdic said the day was suc-
cessful as both a recycling
promotion and a community
event.
“One of the things we
worked on this year was mak-
ing it a community event,”
said Burdic, who is also MU’s
coordinator of solid waste and
recycling. “The takeaway for
me is how happy the people
are to come buy the stuff.”
concerns with the perfor-
mance of the council in terms
of its ability to communicate
effectively with advisory
groups.
For example, Water and
Light Advisory Board Chair-
man John Conway wrote that
his commission is “not always
sure what the council expects
from the board.”
Conway’s response was
directly addressed in the work
session by Hoppe, illustrating
the council’s concern for fail-
ures in communication such
as this.
The council has created a
rough outline of improved
communication through two
avenues. They intend to meet
with every board and commis-
sion, and also have requested
written quarterly reports from
each group as needed.
Fourth Ward Councilman
PHOEBE SEXTON/Missourian
Last year, the sale raised
about $10,000 to donate to
United Way. Official num-
bers will not be released for
a few weeks, but Burdic said
he expected about the same
result as last year. By about 10
a.m., Burdic said 2,500 people
came to the sale, with others
trickling in after that.
More online
View more photos and video
of the rummage sale online at
ColumbiaMissourian.com.
Jerry Wade said, “The quar-
terly information will serve as
an open line of communication
for overarching concerns.”
Quarterly reports will be
formally introduced into the
council agenda for review.
“The meeting was beneficial
for both groups. We can’t com-
municate enough,” Ott said.
“My preference would be to
get another meeting in person
if at all possible, but I still
think reports could be a posi-
tive thing.”
The council was also able
to make connections between
groups with common interests
and further the goals of the
commissions.
“Our commissioners are
great resources and we should
make good use of their work,”
Hoppe said. “We should help
them accomplish more, which
will help us accomplish more.”