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Third time's a charm for annual "Boot Sale"

'People don't understand that when they're shopping local, they're supporting their neighbours. I think it's very important . We definitely need to do more of that.' Karen Bell vendor

Vendors were set up at Lee Park Saturday, selling a variety of items including handmade arts and crafts from the ‘boot’ or trunk of their vehicles.

Close to 40 vendors were on hand for the third annual North Bay “Boot Sale”  

The blazing sun caused vendors to set up tents in front of their vehicles to make the shopping experience a pleasant one for customers, during day one of the two day event.   

Julie Voyer is the event organizer.  

“I wanted to try something that nobody else had done around here, so I started to talk about it with one of my friend’s and we came up with the idea and we just made it happen.”

A wide variety of items are being sold this weekend. There is everything from jewelry and bags, to clothes and Tupperware, to makeup, assorted hot and cold teas, items for children, and a silent auction.  

“Most of the vendors are from North Bay and area, and a few have travelled from areas like Sudbury and Ottawa,” said Voyer.

Karen Bell is one of the original vendors. She sells Tocara jewelry.

“This year is definitely the best. It’s very well organized. It’s been pretty steady all morning even before the sun came out. They really like the different vendors that are here. Some of it is handcrafted, some of it is like my company out of Montreal, and some of it is yard sales, so there’s quite the diversity here.” said Bell.

“People don’t understand that when they’re shopping local, they’re supporting their neighbours. I think it’s very important whether it’s at a market like this, or if it’s at the farmer’s market downtown, or shopping in a local store, we definitely need to do more of that.”

Three generations of the Kapitanchuk family took a stroll through the grounds, checking out all the merchandise. Erin, along with daughter and her two little ones, made it a family affair.         

“I like being able to see local vendors and handmade crafts. It’s very important to me to shop local. I think it’s great to support local businesses, and keep money in the community,” said Erin.

This year the sale is raising funds to help St. Vincent De Paul Church with its building repairs. Non-perishable food donations are also being collected for the church food bank.

Former parish priest, Father Ed Lafontaine, says the renovations are costly and will require a great deal of fundraising.

“It’s about 50% done, but there’s still a lot of major work to do. The side entrance needs to be redone and it’s going to be very expensive. It’s going to cost somewhere between $800,000 to a million dollars. It’s a huge project. It’s going to take a couple years before they get the funds for that.”    

Third time's a charm for this year’s sale. It rained the entire weekend the first year it was held. Last year the grounds were saturated with water after a storm went through hours before the opening. But this year more than made up for the rough start, with sun filled skies and hot weather.   

In addition to the vendors, the public was treated to a gymnastics demonstration, face painting and a variety of food, all of which added to the family friendly atmosphere.

The Boot Sale runs again Sunday from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.