Hey, kids, let's put on a rummage sale!

By Tina Potterf
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Then there's the really good stuff, like antiques, art work, rare LPs and music equipment (one year a baby grand piano was up for sale).

"What's unique about our sale is that it's chorus members donating stuff so you get a wide variety" of goods, said Daren Baker, a fund-raising chair and member of the Seattle Men's Chorus.

"It's not like a typical rummage sale. There's very unique things."

Event preview "Out of Our Closets & Into the Street," a rummage and bake sale to benefit Seattle Men's and Seattle Women's choruses, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, the old First Christian Church building, 1632 Broadway Ave., Seattle; free (information, www.seattlemenschorus.com).

The Seattle Men's Chorus teams up with its sister organization, the Seattle's Women's Chorus, for "Out of Our Closets & Into the Street," a rummage and bake sale tomorrow and Sunday at the old First Christian Church building on Capitol Hill. Proceeds will help fund travel expenses for choral members attending the GALA Choruses festival this summer in Montreal.

This is the fourth rummage sale for the organization and a first for the Seattle Women's Chorus. It's also among the biggest annual fund-raising events for the chorus, raising several thousand dollars to help offset travel expenses when its members perform in various festivals. More than 100 members of the women's chorus and some 200 members of the men's group will participate at the GALA festival in July, said Baker, a first tenor with the Seattle Men's Chorus.

The idea for a rummage sale first came to light in 1997, Baker said.

"We were taking a tour to go to Europe and a couple of us guys got together to think of a way to make money," he continued, "and said, 'Why not do a yard sale?' "

Those who live for yard sales can spend hours sorting through items that include furniture, electronics, sporting goods, kitchen and bath goods, art, clothing and "lots of shoes," Baker said.

Seattle Women's Chorus member Cathy Coucoules is among the many volunteers who've spent hours sorting and tagging items donated for the sale.

"I was overwhelmed when I went and helped sort and price" the goods, she said. "Furniture, clothes, you name it."

"Out of Our Closets & Into the Street" not only makes for a fun day of shopping, but also benefits a good cause, Coucoules said.

"People who love garage sales and rummage sales will have a wide variety of things to look at, and it's supporting something important — the arts in Seattle."

Tina Potterf: 206-464-8214 or tpotterf@seattletimes.com

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