Photo by Jim Tate Sharon Johnson, left, and Gail Kvernmo are two dedicated volunteers at This Ol’ Thrift Shoppe in Hendricks.

Many towns in the area have a thrift shop. None are quite like the This Ol’ Place Thrift Shoppe in Hendricks.

The thrift shop has receives donations from near and far and all proceeds are donated to the Hendricks Community Hospital. There’s about 30 individuals who volunteer their time.

Gail Kvernmo has been a thrift shop board member and is a current volunteer. Sharon Johnson is currently on the thrift shop board. They gave a recent visitor a tour, and talked about the thrift shop and its importance to Hendricks.

The thrift shop idea started back in 1993, said Kvernmo, with what was then the Hendricks Hospital Auxiliary. It was located in the basement of the hospital. It later moved across the street to the “Hermanson Home,” said Kvernmo. After that it moved to Main Street, in the building that was once a meat market, and now, the theater.

“And then a local businessman, Wayne Hexem, gave us the (current) building,” said Kvernmo. It is just across the street from the theater location at 110 South Main Street “and it has a good roof, and a dry basement. That was so important to us.”

The business offers “very reasonably-priced” items and a dedicated band of volunteers keep it running smoothly.

Contributions come in each day and are left at a hospital-purchased shed behind the store.

“It’s Christmas every day,” said Kvernmo. “You never know what you’ll find.”

“It’s been a real community effort and there’s a lot of volunteers. They are very committed,” said Johnson.

The thrift shop is selective and only takes items that are in good shape.

“We don’t take it if it’s smokey, dated or dirty,” said Kvernmo.

The Lincoln County Environmental Agency picks up salvaged items on Mondays, which can range from metal to clothing.

The thrift shop donates many items of clothing to various niches in the community. Large sweatshirts and sweatpants are given to the local nursling home for male residents, and worn quilts and blankets are donated to individuals for their pets. Markers, books and education-related items go to the school and help students there.

The store is laid out efficiently, with women’s and teen-age boys and girls clothing, a men’s clothing area, glassware, linens/blankets, jewelry, crafts, books, kitchen/cooking and smaller electric gadgets for the kitchen. There’s a little of this, a little of that.

There’s a sorting room in the back, and seasonal items are sorted and stored in the basement. An electric conveyor cart to the basement is used to transport items to the main floor.

“That really is a help to our volunteers,” said Johnson.

Price tags change colors each month, so personnel know how long an item has been displayed.

“That tells us if an item hasn’t moved, and it may have to be re-arranged in another area. Sometimes that’s all it takes,” said Johnson.

“The color coding tells us when it’s time to weed things out. We want to keep seasonal and up to snuff, such as winter clothing, springs, things like that,” said Kvernmo.

Lake Hendricks brings an entirely new population to the area in the summer months, and they frequent the thrift shop. “Those with cabins, and the campground is always filled. It’s a booming time, we see strangers all the time,” said Kvernmo.

Both have worked hard to establish the thrift store in town, and word is catching on.

“We want things to go, because we have so much,” said Kvernmo. “And the items are priced to go.”

Kvernmo said with a chuckle that This Ol’ Place Thrift Shoppe has a motto: “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.”