Barn sale raises money, promotes good will

St Peter Catholic Church's barn sale at the Kane County Fairgrounds cleared more than $100,000.

But organizers say the shared experience and benefits to the community are more important than the bottom line.

"We always say the barn sale has three purposes," said Linda Fritz, who chaired the event last month with her husband Paul. "It should bring us together as a parish, serve others in the community, and reduce our debt. We hit the first two goals in spades. We're very proud of our efforts, the money is a by-product."

Fritz said the Geneva church will use the proceeds to reduce debt incurred when additions were put on to the parish school.

The annual September event is conducted by local Catholic churches on a rotating basis.

St. Peter took over this year from Holy Cross Church in Batavia, which had hosted the sale for ten years in a row.

The barn sale has a 30-year history in the Tri-Cities but it was at the Kane County Fairgrounds for the first time this year. It began at St. John Neumann Church in St. Charles.

Fritz believes there were between 6,000 and 7,000 shoppers over the two-day period, but adds "this is purely a guess."

"There certainly were a lot of people when the gates opened Saturday morning," she said. "More than we expected. We think we had some new people this year because there was parking -- we didn't need shuttle buses.

"Staff at the fairgrounds said no other event had ever filled their parking lot before."

The Kane County Fair attracts more spectators but is held over five days.

According to Fritz, more than 50,000 items were offered for sale, not including individual pieces of clothing.

St. Peter will hold the 2008 sale at the fairgrounds again, but she hopes some operations go more smoothly.

"We need to improve traffic control, pick-up, and handicapped parking."

Fritz said shoppers could leave their items in a holding pen, but "getting from the holding pen to their cars was a trek."

"But we're thrilled with the response," Fritz added. "It was spectacular, and we're happy to do this for people."

Leftover items were donated to local nonprofit organizations.