MOUNT IDA Busiest store in town

TRI-LAKES AREA — When the seasons change and this store brings out new items, there is often a line around the block. The store is not a specialty boutique or big department store in a metropolitan area, it is The Thrift Shop in downtown Mount Ida.

“We get shoppers from Benton and Hot Springs and we even have people who come from Oklahoma a couple of times a year,” said Glenda Preston, president of the Montgomery County Nursing Home Auxiliary, which operates the store. “People tell us we are the busieststore in town.”

The auxiliary is a volunteer organization of about 40 local women who operate the store south of the Montgomery County Courthouse to benefit the Montgomery County Nursing Home and its assisted living facilities in Mount Ida.

“They are the most amazing group of women,” said Bryan Wann, administrator of the nonprofit facility. “We depend on them for our special projects, and they never say no.”

The shop has been operating for nearly 45 years, Preston said. In 1966, three women started the shop on a very limited basis to raise fundsfor the programs of the Mount Ida Methodist Church. They then decided to take their yardsale leftovers and sell them to help the struggling nine-bed nursing home.

Over the years, the shop and the nursing home have grown with the help of the auxiliary members. Today, the nursing home has 112 residents, and 32 are in an assisted-living community with 170 employees. While the building is owned by the county, they receive no county funds for operations.

“We use our budget for salaries, the utilitiesand medical supplies,” Wann said. “The auxiliary helps us with items that make our residents more comfortable.”

The shop and the women who run it make sure the residents have patient bibs, linens, patient lifts, wheelchairs and Christmas decorations. They also have provided a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, a boat dock, patient monitors and even a commercial popcorn machine.

While records indicate that the shop contributed only $165.90 in 1966, the support from the auxiliary grew along with the shop. In 2008, the group’s contributions totaled just short of $50,000, and over the years the numbers are approaching a half million dollars.

The shop makes those kinds of contributions from its profits.

“It is all from a lot of nickels and dines and some dollars,” Preston said. “We sell clothes, shoes, books and some furniture, all donated by people in the town and surrounding areas. We have a lot of merchandise to turn over.”

Preston said the people in the community support the shop with donations and in sales because they know how the profits are used to support the nursing home.

In addition to the support given the nursing facility, the auxiliary also gives scholarships of $1,500 to outstandingseniors from each of the three area high schools - Caddo Gap, Oden and Mount Ida. There is also an adult education scholarship.

“It is for someone who wants to return to or further their education,” Preston said.

Theses scholarships are open to anyone interested in a health-related field.

Wann said he is impressed by the amount of hard work and the time the women put into the shop. When items are donated, they are sorted, cleaned and stored or displayed.

“It is a hard job,” Preston admitted,but rewarding.

The members of the auxiliary have made a long-term commitment to the success of the shop. Marie Sherrell, an early member of the auxiliary, still works a shift at the shop every Tuesday morning with her two daughters, who are also longtime members of the organization.

“They don’t receive the credit for the service they do for the facility and the community,” Wann said. “They not only aid us, but help people by offering lowcost clothing. They are extremely important to us all.” - wbryan@arkansasonline.com

Tri-Lakes, Pages 139 on 11/22/2009

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