The Women Commissioners held their annual rummage sale yesterday in the Margot V. Biermann Athletic Center from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in order to raise money for scholarships. There is a two dollar bag sale this morning beginning at nine and concluding at noon.
While the sale is an annual event, no one knows how long the sale has been running.
“Nobody can remember for sure when it started—in the early `50s I think. In the `60s it was moved to the Old Field House.” Sue Hayes `61, a member of the Women Commissioners who became involved with the sale in 1978, said, “When they were moving and building the sports complex we were at the fair grounds, then we were in Roche until this year, but now we are in this building and it is just beautiful.”
The college and commissioners moved the sale to the Biermann center this year due to the ongoing renovations within the Roche Sports Complex, where the sale has been held for the past 20 years.
The Women Commissioners is a charitable group that has operated for at least 125 years. Currently, there are 60 members, 40 of whom are local residents. The remaining 20 live out of town and fly in for major events such as this one.
While the sale is not the only event the Women Commissioners sponsor, it is certainly the most well-known.
“Women Commissioners basically put together this huge rummage sale purely to raise a scholarship fund and it’s awesome. They pack out loads and loads of tables and use it to finance several multi-thousand dollar scholarships,” junior Tim Allen, a scholarship recipient, said. “The sale itself is awesome. There’s tons of stuff. You’ve got your shoes, all kinds of clothes and furniture, anything you want, and it’s super cheap.”
Rich Moeggenberg, Hillsdale’s financial aid director, said, “The sale is where you pick up what you didn’t bring here. It’s a win-win for the Hillsdale College community, because it goes directly to student’s scholarships.”
Currently, there are 26 students receiving a Women Commissioner scholarship.
Moeggenberg said a normal Women Commissioners scholarship is in the range of $7,000 to $7,500. They select students based on a combination of need, merit, extracurricular activity, and philanthropy. Recipients are expected to donate time to help set up and run the sale.
“The student recipients get a chance to work side by side with the Women Commissioners,” he said.
“I helped to set up on Friday, Sept. 6, and Sunday, Sept. 8, and enjoyed hanging out with the women commissioners,” Allen said, “It’s fun to meet a bunch of the older demographic in Hillsdale. They’re just super kind and genuine, and do so much to help out the kids on scholarship.”
“As our group is graying, the students are invaluable,” Hays said. “It’s great that they are so cooperative.” When I went, Hillsdale was a big party school.”
Because of his involvement with putting on the sale, Allen gets early access to the rummage items each year, and has a few favorites he has picked up.
“A british khaki messenger bag that everyone is jealous of that I got for a dollar,” Allen said, “I also got a stuffed cat—like, a real cat that was stuffed, so it was super real—and that’s awesome.”
