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Help rescued cats one item at a time

A huge garage sale was held in Red Deer this past weekend to help rescue stray cats.
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Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff Berdie Burtick of Red Deer examines a lamp as she shops for her mother, Esther Horsburth, at the Whisker Rescue Society garage sale Friday. The sale featured thousands of items donated to the effort.

A huge garage sale was held in Red Deer this past weekend to help rescue stray cats.

An almost endless amount of items were sold at the Whisker Rescue Society’s 10th annual garage sale at the Pidherney Curling Centre in Red Deer.

The event, which ended Sunday, raised money for cats rescued by the organization. The money covers costs, such as vet bills.

All items sold at the garage sale were donated between July 11 and 28, said event co-ordinator Diane Webber.

“The donations from people this year have been amazing. A person could come in here and set up their entire apartment. There’s furniture, dishes and every single thing you’d need,” Webber said.

This year’s garage sale was the largest yet because it was the second year at the same venue, she added.

“People know every year we’re going to be setting up here. Before we had to look for a place, but now we don’t, which is a big help,” she said.

Through Friday and Saturday, the society saw a steady amount of people coming through and buying items, Webber said. On Saturday alone, they sold nearly half the donations.

This was the second time Red Deer’s Cheryl Kromm attended the Whisker Rescue garage sale. Kromm and her seven-year-old son, Marcus, were looking around the toy section in the back of the Pidherney Curling Centre.

“He made a beeline for the toys. We like to look at the puzzles, books, and stuff like that here,” Kromm said.

Also attending the garage sale for the second time was Kieth Belanger. His partner, Agi, was more interested in buying things than he was, he said, but he enjoyed the garage sale nonetheless.

“It’s kind of fun out here,” Belanger said. “It’s really well organized. They seem to take a lot of time to separate and plan where things go. I’m very impressed.”

Caroline McConnell is more of a veteran at the Whisker Rescue garage sale, coming for a number of years. Though she was looking at the board games, there is one certain section that keeps her coming back, she said.

“There’s tons of stuff here and some good prices. I’m going to be heading over to the books soon and grab enough to last me for the year,” she said.

sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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