Momentum strong at 10th Great Big Garage Sale
By Colleen Longhurst

Photo by Colleen Longhurst Wilgress (left) of Caledon East, Domenica Wheeler, Caledon East, and Coalition president Penny Richardson greeted visitors to the 10th annual Great Big Garage Sale Saturday.

The 10th edition of The Great Big Garage Sale was held this past Saturday, and judging by the response, it shows no signs of slowing down.

Avid bargain-hunters lined up their vehicles for miles on both sides of Winston Churchill Road to get an early chance at the appliances, camping gear, music, books, toys, holiday items, plants, indoor/outdoor furniture and The Big Bake Sale Table.

Gloomy, cool and misty weather did not deter the buyers who started lining up well before the 9 a.m. start time to get into the large indoor horse arena at Someday Farm. By 10:30 a.m., it was estimated that 800 people had entered the facility. A projection was made that more than 1,000 buyers would come through before the 4 p.m. finish.

Barbecue grills were busy and volunteers, garbed in brilliant, fluorescent green aprons bearing The Great Big Garage Sale image, made sure no one went home hungry or empty handed. A raffle with a $500 cash prize and a silent auction were also held. Documents supporting the Coalition for Concerned Citizens, who were the co-ordinators of the event, were ready to be signed and donations were appreciated.

Both sides of Winston Churchill Blvd. were lined with cars, attesting to the sale's huge popularity both within and outside of Caledon.

This annual garage sale is an important project. Funds from this event go to the Coalition for Concerned Citizens, an Inglewood/Cheltenham area group. This organization has been working for the past 10 years to prevent the start up of an open pit mine, that would include blasting, at the corner of Olde Baseline and Winston Churchill Roads. This is a farming, horse and residential area, which includes an important wetland environment, all located on the Niagara Escarpment.

After much research on the effects to the environment from the potential pit opening, the citizens group is still very concerned that there will be a huge drainage of nearby wetlands, destroying critical natural habitat. In addition, farmers and landowners fear that the subsequent lowering of the water table will cause wells and water supplies to just dry up or affect the water quality. The blasting required during pit operation is also a concern. Ten years ago at one of the initial meetings, the truck traffic was predicted to be about 350 vehicles a day going back and forth along Mississauga Road.

Penny Richardson, president of the Coalition, indicated that at an early discussion about the open pit mine, she was told only a handful of people would continue to show an interest and by 12 months only Penny's relatives would be the supporters. That was 10 years ago.

Saturday's turnout to support the Coalition for Concerned Citizens demonstrated that this issue is important to many. Repeat volunteers came from as far away as Guelph and the buyers came from most areas of Caledon, Brampton and Georgetown.

The next public pit meeting will take place sometime in May. More information may be found at www.coalitioncanada.com.