By NICK YAMASHITA
The Progress
The Senior Center Thrift Store in downtown Overton reopened its doors on Wednesday, June 3 to a line of waiting customers. At 8:00 am, United Seniors Inc. Director Cindy Marino opened the doors and let the waiting crowd through the front door.
“We have been getting ready for weeks to reopen,” Marino said. “But we had to wait on the official word that we could.”
“We had already started doing online sales through our social media sites and that has been a success,” Marino added. “But there is just something about in person that makes this place so much more worthwhile.”
When Governor Sisolak officially announced Phase 2 on May 26, Marino knew she had to get the store ready to open. It was a pretty overwhelming task given that the store has been closed for nearly 3 months.
“Thank goodness for volunteers!” Marino said. “They had already been working on organizing and setting up the store. The Senior Center has a lot to thank them for.”
Among these volunteers were Julie O’Hara, Pat Norlina, Dorothy Diamond, Ron Prettyman, Ley Soltis, Tony Chesnut, Tim Harms, Fran Drew, and Mike Marino. These volunteers had been going through the donations, cleaning, and sanitizing, setting up displays, and everything needed to open when the word was given.
Along with the opening of the store, there are brand new windows installed at the front of the store ready to greet the shoppers.
“We have had new windows installed during the quarantine and have done a couple of other minor repairs and modifications,” Marino said. “We have been blessed as we started taking donations again a couple of weeks ago and we even had an anonymous donor give us $1,000 to use for the United Senior Center.”
As the opening day went on, approximately 70-80 shoppers shopped through the store, highlighting a day of success and a reopening to remember. Marino said that she noticed a lot of smiles and those smiles seemed to radiate out to all the people attending.
“This was a most wonderful day! It went well,” Marino said. “People were happy to be back and to see each other. There is always something nice about seeing people you care about.”
As for restrictions that are mandated, Marino said they are recommending that people follow the CDC social distancing guidelines. There was blue tape put down on the floors by the registers to show customers where to stand for keeping a 6-foot distance. It was also recommended by the store to wear masks
Pat Norling, who was running the register was excited to see the kids come in and participate in their Quarter Reading Program.
“We give kids 25 cents (a quarter) to go buy a book to read,” Norling said. “It is great to see the kids get excited to read.”
“This is great to be open again!” Marino said. “It gives the seniors something to do and we look forward to serving the community again. The online sales program has been a huge success so we will continue to do those, especially for those who are still not able to come in person due to the COVID-19.”
The Thrift Store is open on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 8:00 am until 11:30 am. For more information visit the store during operation hours at 475 S Moapa Valley Blvd or call (702) 397-8408.
