An organized rummage

June Casagrande

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s where Nancy Acone

comes in.

A retired librarian and educator, Acone volunteers as chairwoman

for the Friends of OASIS annual rummage sale -- the auxiliary group’s

big annual fund-raiser that brought in about $19,000 this year.

“One of the best things about being involved in it is all the

people that you meet,” Acone said. “You go to the store, you see

people you met through doing this. It’s nice to know your community.”

Acone, who has two grown sons and who lives in Newport’s Port

Streets with her husband, Paul, has been a volunteer for Friends of

OASIS for about seven years. She also volunteers for the Friends of

the Newport Beach Library, which, similar to the Oasis rummage sales,

takes donated books and sells them to raise money for library

programs. Rather than collecting and selling donated books, the Oasis

rummage sale gives Acone a chance to see some unusual merchandise.

“The things people buy can be really interesting,” she said. “A

woman came in and bought whole a box of wigs, she bought them at $2 a

wig and there must have been 20 wigs in there. She bought the whole

box and donated them to a cancer charity.”

Most of the merchandise in the rummage sale is donated by OASIS

members and other locals whose closets are packed with unused

clothes, linens, jewelry, household items -- you name it. Friends of

OASIS is the volunteer auxiliary for the OASIS Senior Center, which

is staffed and funded in part by the city of Newport Beach.

The at the end of the annual rummage sale, which this year took

place on Friday and Saturday, the leftover merchandise doesn’t just

go in the garbage, Acone said. The remainder is donated to the

Salvation Army.

“People’s stuff is always useful to someone,” Acone said.