Two decades of Mega Sale
Linda Olson of Apple Valley, a longtime Prince of Peace member and volunteer, is in her second year at the helm of the annual Mega Sale sponsored by the Women’s Ministry. Photo by Rick Orndorf
Prince of Peace’s legendary garage sale reaches milestone
by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers
My, how they’ve grown.
The first Mega Sale at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville exceeded expectations by raising $5,000 in 1990.
Ashley Gruhlke was in second grade when she became a Mega Sale volunteer. Now a 23-year-old math teacher, Gruhlke still works every year at the mostly used-goods extravaganza, which will have its 20th run Thursday, Aug. 26, through Saturday, Aug. 28.
Originally held in a single room, the Mega Sale now occupies swaths of the church’s two buildings and overflows into eight outdoor tents.
Sponsored by the Prince of Peace Women’s Ministry, the Mega Sale has raised more than $1.4 million over 20 years, with half going to church projects and half to outside causes such as local women’s shelters, disaster relief and domestic and international hunger programs.
Dozens of volunteers make it happen, many returning year after year.
“I’m the youngest old person, is what they like to call it,” said Gruhlke, a Prince of Peace member who grew up in Burnsville and has been a Mega Sale volunteer for 15 years. “I’ve been there my entire childhood and teen years. It’s definitely the community that I know I’ll always need.”
Organizers say no church garage sale in the Twin Cities area matches the volume of Mega Sale.
“It’s the biggest areawise and dollarwise, to the best of my knowledge,” said Linda Olson of Apple Valley, the Women’s Ministry team leader on the project and a Prince of Peace member since 1985.
Olson said the sale was launched by Women’s Ministry members Shelby Pittman and Pat Olson (no relation). The idea was to raise a little money for church needs, such as seeing that every child had a Bible, Linda Olson said.
“The first one went well beyond anything they expected,” said Olson, a 17-year Mega Sale volunteer in her second year at the helm. “When they first started out, the entire sale was held in one room at our church, the teen center. Now that room holds only our households department.”
The sale has become a staple destination for many local bargain-hunters and, Olson says, even a few out-of-state vacationers.
It offers clothing, antiques and collectables, toys, furniture, gifts, sporting goods, CDs and DVDs, musical instruments, books, housewares, jewelry, home decor, electronics (including complete computer systems), health and beauty items, linens and office supplies.
“It’s immense,” said Gruhlke, who is coordinating office and school supplies this year with her mother, Bev.
The first shoppers begin lining up about two hours before the sale opens, some biding their time playing cribbage and ordering pizza, Olson said.
“On our opening nights, we will have over 2,000 people come through our doors,” she said.
The least expensive items cost 50 cents, and the most expensive top out at about $300, she said.
Many families have used Mega Sale for back-to-school shopping, outfitting their kids with clothes, shoes and school supplies for about $100, Olson said.
“There’s a lot of lives being touched,” said Olson, a middle school ministry mentor at Prince of Peace and past president of the Women’s Ministry. “We’re trying to be cost-effective here, so someone who is unemployed or doesn’t have the means to go out and buy this stuff can come here.”
Sale volunteers check all donated items for quality, making sure glass sets aren’t chipped, silverware sets are complete, jackets have zippers and electronics all work.
The intake process takes three weeks, with about 150 volunteers a day working three or four days a week, said Olson, whose husband, Mark, and four children, ages 17 to 31, have all been Mega Sale volunteers. Setup takes another week. Volunteering isn’t limited to Prince of Peace members.
“I can tell you, it’s superfun,” said Olson, who loves to see senior citizens and teens working together on the project. “You have this group of people that you work with very closely for five or six weeks out of the year, and they truly become like family.”
The sale is Thursday, Aug. 26, from 2 to 8 p.m. (no strollers allowed); Friday, Aug. 27, from 4 to 8 p.m.; and Saturday, Aug. 28, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday features a half-price sale from 9 to 11:45 a.m. and a bag sale (not all areas) from noon to 2 p.m.
For more information, call the Mega Sale hotline at (952) 898-9366 or visit www.princeofpeaceonline.org.
Prince of Peace is located at 13901 Fairview Drive on the Ridges Campus in Burnsville.
John Gessner is at burnsville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
Yaay…. Come see us and just look around. I’ll be in the furniture tent!!!!! Bring me a coke!!!