Norway woman starting drop off/pick up program
By Jennifer Otterson
Special to the Sun Journal

NORWAY – Ruby Wilson sees people throw away furniture every day.

“I see people bring in TVs in the fall that are three months old,” she said. “Summer people buy them every year and throw them away in the fall.”

After watching so much go to waste she has finally decided enough is enough.

Wilson’s idea is a building where people can leave used furniture to be picked up by people who need it.

Ruby’s Gold Mine will be located at the Norway/Paris Transfer Station on Brown Street. The station already has a collection site where people can leave good used clothing for the Salvation Army.

“We’re taking it one step further,” she said.

Warren Sessions, a station employee, said more and more communities are starting programs like this.

Hebron and Greenwood already have successful “second time around” shops.

“It’s a good way for people who can’t afford new stuff to get good used stuff,” he explained.

Currently anyone who brings furniture to the transfer station pays a $5 fee to cover stripping the item. The wood goes to the Frost Hill site and everything else goes into the hopper at the dump.

When Ruby’s Gold Mine is up and running, people will only be asked to make a small donation toward the maintenance of the building.

There’s a lot of work to be done before that can happen, though.

Wilson is trying to raise the money for a building to store donated furniture in. She hasn’t decided yet whether she’d like to buy a mobile home that can be equipped with a garage door or if it would be better to build from scratch. It’ll all depend on how much money she’s able to raise.

Hancock Lumber and Record Lumber have already made pledges, she said.

A garage door has been donated, and a local concrete contractor has donated his time.

Wilson would like to have a cement pad under the building.

“That’d be way cool,” she said. Now she just needs someone to donate the cement.

Wilson and friends will be holding a car wash from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Mini Apple in South Paris to raise money for her project. They are also planning a supper and a hunters breakfast for sometime in October.

“This whole area needs help,” Wilson said, and she’s trying to do her part.