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The Priory Retreat House in Chestertown is holding its 26th annual "World's Largest Private Garage Sale" next weekend, July 13-14, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

"We have practically everything," said Sister Connie Messitt, CSJ, executive director of the Christian retreat center for religious contemplation and spiritual direction.

Indeed, the 100-acre grounds will be teeming with tents full of clothing, linens, household goods, furniture, toys, sporting equipment, religious items and photography, as well as a barn full of music, movies, appliances and art and a cellar packed with electronics.

A group of volunteers Sister Connie calls the "damsels of the dungeon" sort donations every week year-round in the basement. Two days before the sale, 50 volunteers from across the Albany Diocese and Sister Connie's former residence in Connecticut start setting up.

The event features a food court both days and a Saturday afternoon Mass celebrated by Rev. John O'Kane, pastor of St. Isaac Jogues parish in Chestertown. Often, 200 eager bargain-seekers are waiting at the gates when the sale starts each morning.

Sister Connie once counted 2,400 customers at a sale. The largest annual fundraiser for the retreat house, it often makes between $15,000 and $20,000 each year.

Those funds are "desperately needed," Sister Connie noted. "Things are tight."

The money helps with maintenance; part-time staff members' salaries; and programs, which include directed individual and group retreats. The Priory also offers meeting space for private groups like grade schools and colleges and extended sabbaticals.

Sister Connie also goes to parishes and groups to lead retreats and workshops on topics like the spirit of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, aging, codependency and substance abuse recovery.

There's been an upswing in off-site retreats lately, but The Priory could use some fresh faces on its premises, she said, adding that retreat time is necessary in today's fast-paced, technology-dominated society.

"It's an oasis in the midst of this chaotic world we live in to be able to touch back into the sacredness of life [and] take time to sit still in nature," Sister Connie said. "It's a place of peace and calmness. People feel it when they come on the land.

"We've become addicted to machinery and it takes us away from the natural at times," she continued. "One of my fears is that it will take people away from the face-to-face connection that we need in relationships. We've lost a simplicity."

Sister Connie's favorite aspect of the garage sale is reuniting with the regular volunteers.

"I love watching the camaraderie," she said. "There was one year when it rained all weekend, and nobody complained. They just walked around with garbage bags over their heads."

For more information on the sale, see prioryretreathouse.org">www.prioryretreathouse.org">www.prioryretreathouse.org or call 494-3733.[[In-content Ad]]

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