By Lucie Roy
The Grandmothers to Grandmothers group started in Morinville to lend support to Africa’s grandmothers who are taking care of millions of children orphaned by AIDS. Grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa are burying their own children and looking after grandchildren, often as many as 15 to 20.They have virtually no food, sometimes no shelter and no money for school expenses. In 2006 more than 200 groups of Canadian Grandmothers sprung up throughout Canada give them a hand.
The doors to the garage sale and silent auction opened at 10 a.m. Saturday and the early birds were ready to look for treasures. Elaine Sloan and Maureen Purves were busy unpacking boxes of books and Irene Grant was ready at the cash. The ladies were three of the eight members of the Morinville & District HATS working the event.
A set of ten vintage 1948 tiny animal Golden Books written by Dorothy Kundhardt sold for under $1. These are called Tiny Golden books because they measure only 2 inches by 3 inches and were the first series in the Tiny Golden Library, published by Simon and Schuster and later reprinted under Golden Press. A set of seven books sells on E-bay for $100. Another great find for the lucky person who bid on it at the silent auction was the two sets of vintage 1947-50s Wade child’s cup and saucer set titled Quack-Quacks by designer Robert Barlow. Made of porcelain/pottery and with the full stamp under the cup they had been well stored for all these years and seldom used. The colours were bright, no chipping, cracks or grazing. A person could bid on more than twenty-seven items, which included a turkey dinner and all the fixings from Sobeys valued at $100, bread making machine, Queen- Size fall quilt, Norman Rockwell plates, smoothie maker, LED fountain set, crystal vase, safety jacket and a portable work station.
“HATS has approximately fourteen members and eight were here today setting up, sorting, interacting with people, cooking onions and hot dogs, circulating and reviving the displays, said Delsie Thackuk, another member of the group, during the Oct. 8 event. “This is their first fall event and the people were very generous in donating to Grandmothers to Grandmothers and the community has been very supportive through the years.”
This is HATS fifth year in operation and they have donated almost $14,000 to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. They held a White Elephant Garage sale in February and also had tables out in May during the Town-Wide Garage Sale.
