The Inner Wheel is bringing their annual boot sale back for its 20th year, paying tribute to the history of the event while adding some new touches.
The group began holding the sales when an Inner Wheel member headed to the U.K. for a holiday and encountered the traditional British boot sale, a garage sale-like event where people stack up items in the trunks of their cars, drive to the sale site and simply pop the trunk.
“They just go into a field and they open up the trunk of their car,” said volunteer Nora Fontaine.
The term “boot sale” comes from the common British term for a car trunk: a “boot.” It’s not a common term in Canada. Fontaine said organizers will routinely explain the story to confused shoppers.
“We explain it to them and they think, ‘Neat!’ I think it’s been going on for so long, people are aware of it and know about it. There’s still some people who don’t,” Fontaine said.
It’s one of a number of events the Inner Wheel is involved with through the year. The group works closely with the Flin Flon Rotary Club during many of their events and helps run the Rotary exchange program at Camp Whitney, a donation campaign for Transplant Manitoba, the annual holiday bus light tour for seniors and works at the Blueberry Jam Musical Gathering.
The group has also assisted in fundraising for programs and upgrades at Flin Flon General Hospital.
“I think seeing the companionship and the fellowship and seeing the people come out and support it (is the best part),” said Inner Wheel volunteer Agnes Mills.
This year, some Inner Wheel members will have a donation centre for the Lord’s Bounty Food Bank at the sale. The centre will accept donations of non-perishable food items and hygiene products, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, laundry detergent and toilet paper.
“These are some of the items that people need,” Fontaine said. “This is a time of year where things kind of slow down with donations.”
Since the first-ever sale in 1999, the Inner Wheel has run the sale annually regardless of weather conditions.
“We’ve had years where we’ve had beautiful weather and we’ve had years where we’ve had to kind of pack it up quick because it’s raining,” said Fontaine.
“We’ve been through sleet, snow, rain, you name it. Everybody else just shows up that day and just gets right down to business.”
The sale will take place at the Victoria Inn on June 8, starting at 10 a.m.
