The date is Saturday, May 7th, 2005, the time 8:30 in the morning, the place St Andrew’s Lutheran Church at the corner of Carlton and Jarvis Streets. The sight is a long human chain, which winds its way from the Carlton St entrance around the corner and south along Jarvis Street. The occasion is the long-awaited annual giant rummage sale HIIGELBASAAR just before the doors open at 9 a.m. on the dot!

During the 6-hour sale, a throng of 825 bargain-hunters elbowed their way along the narrow aisles between tables piled high with all manner of goods and jostled each other between racks hung heavy with all manner of wearables. 825 pairs of feet trampled their way through a conglomeration of 15 departments with merchandise ranging from the bizarre to the mundane. 825 pairs of hands touched, fondled, shook and manhandled a variety of items ranging from a silver fox stole to a rolling pin. And 825 palates were satisfied as the mounds of home-baked goodies in Irja’s Café became depleted during the course of the sale.

How many volunteers were needed to serve this throng of shoppers? A cadre of 90 enthusiastic helpers in the familiar hot-pink on black t-shirts, were on hand to encourage and cajole the shoppers into leaving behind as much cash as possible and into taking away as much merchandise as possible. How much cash was left behind? The one-day sale grossed $17,718! With the proceeds from the sale, the organizing committee, AKEN, can continue its good works in support of worthy projects and causes in Estonia as well as here in our own Estonian community in Canada.

This year the first in line was a gentleman named Tony, who was so bound and determined to be first through the doors of the church that he arrived at the incredibly early hour of 4:30 a.m.! Tony was pretty lonely for the first hour until 5:30 when Charlie arrived, followed by Adam at 6 o’clock, Mike at 6:05 and Nadan at 6:30. All 5 were of the opinion that being early increases the chances of finding something “amazing” before someone else nabs it.

Sixth to arrive at 6:35 was Evelyn, who had been third the previous year. Evelyn proudly announced that she was the “first woman” to arrive. She also let it be known that she had been coming to HIIGELBASAAR from the very beginning – in other words, for 16 years! Evelyn is indeed a well-known fixture at the bazaar. Many a toe has felt the presence of Evelyn’s bundle buggy as she trundles around all day waiting for the end-of-the-day “toonie sale” in the clothing department. Evelyn was last seen sitting outside the church waiting for a ride, surrounded by half-a-dozen huge bags stuffed to overflowing.

In total, about 30 of the bargain hunters in the line-up were approached for their comments about the bazaar. The comments were uniformly positive and, in particular, the baked goods in the café were given a resounding A++! Many of the shoppers indicated that they were impressed with the large variety of goods available at the HIIGELBASAAR. Elviga, whose family belongs to the Latvian congregation at St Andrew’s, put it best when she said that it was like “one-stop garage sale hopping”. Monica and her friends, Lisa and Leslie, praised not only the variety but also the quality of the merchandise. Monica enthused about a sewing machine she had bought 10 years ago, which still works, Lisa mentioned a cocktail shaker, which she uses frequently and proudly displays in her buffet and Leslie talked about the fantastic designer clothing that she has found for herself in the boutique.

Pat and Dale have been coming to the HIIGELBASAAR for 7 years. “We just love it, there is something here for everyone”. They also praised the friendliness of the volunteers including the “nice guys” who collect the loonies at the door. Hugh and June echoed this sentiment and even went so far as to say that the volunteers at the sale are some of the friendliest folks they had ever met in all of Toronto. High praise for Estonians! June went further to describe the sale as an event, which has “a nice community feeling about it”, and suggested it was a great way for Estonians to promote themselves and to increase their profile in the community. In fact, many of the local residents who are repeat customers, have begun to view the bazaar as an annual community event. One such local, Claude, comes partly because he loves to browse and root around for treasures and partly because of his desire to participate in a local community activity.

George and Gloria view the bazaar not only as a shopping excursion but also as a social occasion. “You cannot beat this bazaar,” raved George while sitting comfortably in a folding chair, which he had brought along to make waiting in line more bearable. George is Lithuanian and his enthusiasm for HIIGELBASAAR stems partly form the fact that in 1991, he acquired the leftovers from the bazaar and sent 73 boxes of aid to Lithuania at a time when help was sorely needed. During the course of the day, gregarious George was spotted several times “sitting” in various departments simultaneously shopping and chatting up the volunteers.

It seems that the bazaar serves many useful functions. Manuel, an Argentinean, indicated that he shops for practical things such as bedding in order to help newly arrived fellow countrymen to set up their housekeeping in Canada. Caridad, a dressmaker, shops mainly for table linens and fabrics. She sends some of the fabric back home to relatives in the Philippines. Hyacinth, on the other hand, likes to take advantage of the toonie sale to buy clothing for relatives back home in Jamaica.

The reasons for coming to the bazaar vary greatly. There are those who come solely to satisfy their curiosity. Endla and Rudi, an Estonian couple from Hamilton, had read about the bazaar in Eesti Elu, had seen it on the television program Telepeegel and had decided that it was high time to experience this event in person. A young Latvian artist and DJ, who bills himself as “Fresh Disco Porker Gas”, came to promote his art show at Toronto’s first Tango Festival on Victoria Day weekend. Decked out in a fabulously colourful flowered 70’s retro shirt, Mr. Porker Gas’s plan was to make a dash for the “retro rack” in the clothing department. The long and the short of it is - no matter the reason for coming - no one leaves HIIGELBASAAR empty-handed!

The local community has embraced HIIGELBASAAR. The large signs that appear on the church lawn every spring have become part of the local landscape. In the spring of 2006 those same signs will make their reappearance for the 17th time.

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