St. Peter takes over barn sale
Penske moving trucks, filled to the brim with items, rolled in like an invading army. It didn't take long for volunteer workers to line up as if Cubs World Series tickets were on sale.
But the task at hand for these St. Peter parishioners last Saturday was to unload truck after truck and fill the buildings and tents of the Kane County Fairgrounds in preparation for this weekend's annual barn sale.
Workers scurried about the buildings, but stayed in assigned areas to set the stage for a sale that will feature areas for furniture, lawn furniture, hardware, tools, sporting goods, bikes, shoes, toys, clothes and numerous other items.
Even though the sale has been at Holy Cross Church in Batavia for the last 10 years, the Geneva church has several people with experience at orchestrating or working past barn sales.
"We hosted the barn sale for a decade prior to Holy Cross taking it on, so the proof is in the pudding in showing what we can accomplish together," St. Peter pastor Rev. Msgr. Joseph Jarmoluk said.
"And the fruits of those past efforts were that we raised more than $1 million for the parish in addition to helping so many in need with the sale."
The sale has been in the Tri-Cities for more than 30 years, and started at St. John Neumann in St. Charles. St. Peter operated the event through a portion of the 1980s and 1990s before Holy Cross hosted it, but now it comes back with the title of St. Peter Barn Sale.
It unfolds at the new setting from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Kane County Fairgrounds. Admission and parking are free.
The event was in good hands at St. Peter the minute parishioners at Holy Cross finished their 10-year operation with the 2006 sale.
Former Holy Cross parishioners Paul and Linda Fritz were chairmen of the Holy Cross Barn Sale in its third and fourth years.
"We had moved our kids to St. Peter School about four years ago and when we had heard that the barn sale was moving back to St. Peter, we just went to Father Joe and told him we had done this before and if he needed someone to direct it, we would be happy to do it," Linda Fritz said.
Fritz said that chairing the sale this year called for some reinventing because of "the new venue, the new warehouse and a new parish for us."
But the response has been outstanding, she said, with a core group of 250 to 300 volunteers and then about 1,000 in the final weeks of planning.
"The parish has been wonderful and the people have been fabulous," Fritz said. "And we're seeing a lot more involvement with kids than we had seen at Holy Cross, and I think that's partly because of the school, but also because there has been a real emphasis on getting middle school and high school kids involved."
Jarmoluk realizes how important it was to establish reliable leaders for the sale planning, also mentioning co-chairmen Steve and Jennifer Sloma as keys.
"I believe I speak on behalf of the entire parish when I say we owe a particular debt of gratitude to Paul and Linda Fritz and Steven and Jennifer Sloma," Jarmoluk said. "They have organized every facet of this, and it's just a monumental task and they have done it with great Christian devotion."
The growth at St. Peter parish and the barn sale itself should make for a winning combination, Jarmoluk reasons.
"I believe that with the growth of the parish it will make the sale an even greater asset for the community," he said. "There are that many more people coming together on this."
Fritz is counting on the Sunday auction portion of the weekend sale to stir some interest, particularly with a fully-restored 1957 Chevy Belair on the auction block.
Even though the fairgrounds were spotted with puddles from a morning rain on Saturday, the moving day enjoyed sunny skies throughout.
Fritz is hoping for some more divine intervention when the gates open for the real sale.
"God loves the barn sale and it has never rained on the barn sale," she said. "It has rained just minutes before it, or after it, but never during the sale.
"Granted, we have the inside buildings at the fairgrounds this year, but we are hoping for no rain."
If you go
What: St. Peter Church Barn Sale
Where: Kane County Fairgrounds, on Randall Road between routes 64 and 38 in St. Charles
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday
Admission: Free. As is parking.
Info: stpeterbarnsale.com