by Lisa Bender, Lisa@CTClassicHomes.com
The beauty of discovering Fairfield County includes uncovering treasures like Wilton’s Minks to Sinks, semi-annual rummage sale, which benefits the Family and Childrens Agency (FCA).
This spring’s sale begins at 9 a.m. this Saturday, May 5. Hours are Saturday, 9 to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. (1/2 price bargain day), Monday, 9 a.m. to noon (1/2 price and fill a bag bargain day). Parking is always at a premium on these days, and lines wind around the tent as anxious shoppers wait for the sale to open.
Items are donated and consigned by local residents the week before the sale. I make it a habit to fill up the trunk of my car at least once or twice during the drop-off days with items that have worn out their welcome at my home. It’s like losing five pounds. The trick is donating more than you actually purchase!
The name Minks to Sinks was coined in 1952, when a volunteer donated a mink, and another donated a sink. The name stuck, and each sale, has at least one mink and lots of sinks, not to mention an overabundance of Cozy Coupes, sporting equipment, outgrown bikes and cleats, furniture, kitchen ware, fireplace tools, stuffed fish, coffee mugs, and, well, you get the idea.
Minks to Sinks has its roots in the first rummage sale organized by volunteers in Wilton in 1931 to benefit the Nursing Association’s Well Child Program.
And the organization is lucky to have more than 160 volunteers, many who have donated their time for more than 30 or 40 years. They’re hard at work–often in the rain that inevitably falls that week–pricing, ticketing, hauling and displaying the thousands of donated treasures, the days before the sale.
This weekend’s sale is under the the tents at Danbury Road & School Road in Wilton, 1 mile north of Wilton Center (Town Tennis Courts). I dare you to find only one thing you can’t live without!
