Hub Staff

The Boathouse in Southampton was packed full of Christmas spirit on Saturday morning, November 21 with hundreds of people going through the door as the Chantry Island Cham-bettes held their annual Christmas Garage Sale.

Christmas decorations, ornaments and trees were leaving as fast as the Cham-bettes could fill the tables.

Cham-bette, Lorraine Boucher said that there are so many of the recycled, donated Christmas items that not only had they been stored at the Boathouse but also at the Cham-bettes' homes. “There's tons and tons of things,” she said. “When I came in this morning the tables were overflowing and all packed underneath the tables.” Boucher added that they had been making ornaments from the donated items too. “They're disappearing quickly.”

Cham-bette and chair of the event, Cherie Duhaime said that the Cham-bettes have been running the
Christmas Garage Sale for six or seven years. “It's really good because it's recycling Christmas stuff,” she said.

Duhaime said they usually make around $1,000 from the event, which goes into the Cham-bettes fundraising pot, which will then go to help various organizations and schools in the community.

November is a busy month for the Cham-bettes. “Everyone's around and it's a good time to do fundraising. Last weekend at the Christmas Home Tour we sold 887 tickets at $20 each and that is going to the hospital,” said Duhaime, adding that with many heading south for the winter, things will pick up again in the Spring.