By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Jim Robb with the Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale is glad they are able to have the event, even if it is later in the year than usual.
"We took a look at the trends and vaccinations and all that," Robb said. "The best advice we got was later on would be better, be safer and we were able to work out an agreement with the State Fair to be able to move it from April to July."
Much of the event will be the same, but there will be some vendors that are not there this year.
"With the fact that it's in July and could be potentially very warm, I think we're going to luck out and get some pretty decent temperatures, but it could have been like last week," Robb said. "Anything that involved a tremendous amount of heat in preparation of food, some of those committees just opted to sit this one out because it was too dangerous for them to be working over deep fat frying kinds of things."
Around 70 Kansas Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish congregations join together—utilizing an all-volunteer staff--to organize, donate items and funds to make the sale possible.
KMRS offers 24 hours of bidding on quilts, vehicles, antique tractors and handcrafted wood items, purchasing crafted items, activities for kids and a variety of foods to enjoy.
This year’s sale features six diverse auctions, children's activities, international and local crafts, and a carry-out meal served Friday and Saturday that features Verenike and German Sausage.
A 5K Run for Relief is scheduled Saturday morning at 8 a.m. at Rice Park. Entry forms are available at www.kansas.mccsale.org.
Auction items open for viewing at 4 p.m. Friday, July 2 along with the sale of priced items and food booths.
The Silent Auction opens bidding at 5 p.m. in Sunflower South Building.
The sale continues on Saturday with the sale of priced items at 8 a.m. and the Silent Auction reopens bidding at 8 a.m. while the General and Quilt auctions start at 8:45 a.m.
Also, two additional auctions are scheduled in the Pride of Kansas Building. They include an auction for the kids at 10 a.m. and a Memorabilia Auction at 11 a.m. The weekend concludes with the Surplus Auction in Sunflower South starting about 2:30 p.m.
A full schedule and pictures of auction items are available at kansas.mccsale.org.
The sale is the second largest annual event scheduled at the Fairgrounds.
All are welcome to attend the sale. Admission and parking are free.