Grapeland First Methodist’s Annual Fundraiser Returns With BBQ, Garage Sale
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND — Grapeland First Methodist Church will host its annual Methodist Men’s BBQ fundraiser and garage sale Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 3-5.
The event has been a Labor Day weekend tradition for decades. Freida Scarborough said the fundraiser began in the 1990s at the church’s former location and continued after the congregation moved to its current building in 2005.
“We’ve been doing this since the ’90s, when we were at the old church here in Grapeland, and then we moved over here in 2005 and we’ve done it every year since,” Scarborough said. “It’s always on Labor Day weekend.”
The garage sale will be held in the church’s Family Life Center Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. The sale will include furniture, tools, clothing, toys, bathroom fixtures, light fixtures, kitchen items and seasonal decorations for Christmas, fall and Easter.
Janice Chambers said the sale often includes items shoppers may not expect to find at a traditional garage sale.
“We have things from clothes to tools, to bathroom fixtures, to light fixtures, household goods, things that we’ve had several men come in from the barbecue and then they find things that they would never think to see at a garage sale,” Chambers said.
The sale also offers school clothing, kitchen utensils and other household necessities at prices intended to remain affordable.
“We price things to sell. We don’t overprice them,” Chambers said. “We have school clothes for kids and kitchen utensils and things that people need that they maybe can’t afford at the store.”
The church accepts donations from its members and from people throughout the community. Scarborough and Chambers said approximately half of the donated items come from people who are not church members.
“It is a community event,” Scarborough said.
The garage sale has become especially popular with local residents, with shoppers often arriving before the doors open.
“The doors are always lined up before we open at 8,” Scarborough said.
The sale will offer a wide variety of items, including clothing, toys, tools and furniture, as well as seasonal decorations and household fixtures.
Along with the garage sale, the Methodist Men will prepare barbecue Thursday and Friday. Brisket and pulled pork will be available in sandwich combos, with each combo including chips and a drink. Brisket sandwich combos will cost $13, while pulled-pork sandwich combos will cost $10.
Brisket will be sold sliced or chopped, while the pork will be chopped. Beef will also be available by the pound for $20, and pork will be available by the pound for $15.
“They’re also selling sausage on a stick this year,” Chambers said. “We haven’t ever done that before. That’s new.”
Sausage on a stick will cost $5.
The proceeds from the event will go into the church’s general fund rather than being set aside for one specific project.
“The money goes into the general fund to be used as necessary,” Scarborough said. “So it’s not earmarked for anything in particular.”
Scarborough said the church’s general fund helps support its ongoing work, including a current project in which church members are building a wheelchair ramp for one of the congregation’s members.
The fundraiser is intended to support the church while also providing useful items and affordable food to the broader community.
“It is a money-making thing for the church, but due to the low prices, it’s also a community outreach,” Chambers said.
Grapeland First Methodist Church is located at 715 U.S. 287 in Grapeland.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
