Linda Kibbey carefully inspected the bank of tables and chairs that were for sale at the school district’s recent used furniture sale. Her shopping strategy included looking underneath each table for any memories students may have clandestinely left behind.
“I like to repurpose things. That’s what brought me here,” said Kibbey, a retired athletic department secretary for Grandville Public Schools. “Underneath, that’s where the treasures are.”
Bond Passage Made It Possible
The recent sale was to make way for the purchase of new furniture for all the district’s school buildings, made possible when voters in May approved a $14.1 million bond.
Along with the new furniture, the money also will pay for new, secure entrances at all school buildings as well as new flooring, three new school buses and improvements to traffic flow at West Godwin and North Godwin elementaries and the middle school.
“The new furniture started arriving this week and it’s going into all the schools,” said Amanda Daldos, facilities secretary. “The staff and students are really excited.”
The school district made available for $1 each nearly 5,000 used desks, chairs and tables used by students from the 1980s to early 2000s. Pieces from the 2000s were second-hand when the district got them.
School staff saw a steady stream of interested buyers comb through the eight storage pods where much of the furniture had been stored for several weeks, while other inventory was displayed outside.
Marilyn Ryskamp and her husband, Terry, were hunting for tables they could arrange in an octagon in order to create Yuletide ornaments.
“My daughter wants a little crafts room to make Christmas wreaths,” Marilyn said. “Not just for her but for others to join her – a get-together at her place.”
