Submitted by:
Debbie Soloway |

This year we were unsure if there would be a Summer Start Sale. We had rain most of the week and the skies along with the forecast were not showing any promise for Saturday June 17, 2017.

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As we all went to bed on Friday night there was one thing we all asked for in our prayers, “Please don’t rain tomorrow morning”.

Everyone was up early, checking the dark gloomy sky, watching it drizzle a bit, but off in the distance we could see a small glimmer of hope, one tiny, little spot in the west had a hint of bluish sky. Nine brave participants decided to give it a try; trucks were loaded, boxes and containers carried out to the make shift tables, clothes were hung on the racks, the coffee pot started to perk, the signs were placed on the highway and things were getting set up. CKDM radio station announced we would continue and the shoppers started to arrive; it was wonderful to see such great support from everyone. On this cool damp morning there were deals to be made at all the tables, whether you needed jewelry, kitchen and house hold items, books, furniture, baby accessories and much more.

But wait, there was something you don’t find every day, a vintage collection of all new cloths (suits, jackets, coveralls, etc) along with shoes, runners and boots all dating back to the 1970’s. These items were from Tony Semeniuk’s store warehouse, we should have started our own town museum. The streets were full of laughter and lots of stories were told about the good old days and how many remembered wearing these vintage cloths and knew they were dressed in style.

Would you believe that we had so much fun that the time had come and gone to close down and no one had even noticed. We could see the rain was all around us but had stayed away for the sales; people would stop in and say how surprised they were that the sales were on because just a mile away it would be raining. But wouldn’t you know it as soon as everyone packed up and got everything put inside Mother Nature opened the gates again and the rain came down. Big hats off to the participants, the shoppers from near and far (from Texas, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg and many other communities in Manitoba); to Clifford Kostiuk for putting up the signs, to the media for advertising and last but not least, Mother Nature for answering our prayers. Hope to see you again next year and have a great summer.