The Collegian

Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: News

Media Credit: John Thompson Students and residents searched through piles of donated odds and ends at the Women's Commissioner sale Wednesday.

Customers poured into the Roche Sports Complex at 9 a.m. Wednesday, scuttling through mazes of heaping tables and rifling through piles of antiquated knick knacks, hoping to find that special item, that personal holy grail. And thus began the annual Women's Commissioner Sale.

Over 60 truckloads of unwanted household treasures were hauled into Jesse Phillips Arena last week for the sale. Items from every facet of American life lay heaped atop ranks of groaning tables sprawling throughout the arena.

Women's Commissioner Chairwoman Carol Malcheff said the event, which has been staple of the organization for more than 50 years, requires about 150 volunteers from the Women's Commissioner office. The proceeds fund 22 Hillsdale College student scholarships.

One student yesterday found his own special item, which he described as "a sweet-a- disco shirt."

Junior Grant Wolf, proud owner of the splendid garment, beamed as he gazed across the expanse of flotsam in the gym and said: "It's just too good to be true."

Senior Steve Shocke managed to gather an impressive array of clothing that he referred to as a "suit."

Shocke's suit boasted a spectrum of different colored clothing from various periods in American history. The effect is intriguing.

Hillsdale residents and college students intermingled amid the rubble, examining items from wedding dresses to skis to kitchenware.

Malcheff said students gravitate to the clothing and furniture departments.

"But you can find treasures anywhere," she said.

Malcheff, who has been involved with the sale for 15 years, said the ordeal can be a little overwhelming in the beginning.

"When you walk in the gymnasium and see all the stacks and stacks of boxes and bags everywhere, it can be a little scary at first," she said, "but we've got it down pat."

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