Friday, Jun. 19, 2009

Belleville family lauds honest shopper at community yard sale

There seems to be no end to the good news stories coming out of the Highland Neighborhood Association community yard sale in east Belleville a couple of weeks ago.

Not only did Ben Shuppert find a picture his father had made, but Michele Fink discovered that what they thought was a burglary actually was an early sale.

Fink, who lives on Park Avenue in Belleville, said her children had been bugging her to have a yard sale to earn money that they could use on summer vacation when they go to South Carolina this summer. She gave in and agreed to participate in the neighborhood event.

She and her kids spent most of the Thursday that week putting out stuff they wanted to sell. Her son had a baseball game that night with the East Side Khoury League and the whole family went.

When they came home late they didn't notice anything out of place, but it was dark. When Fink got up early the next morning to prepare for the sale, she noticed things had been disturbed and some items were missing.

"I was trying my hardest to figure out why someone would steal from a yard sale," she said. "I just told the kids I guess it is the times we live in."

A little discouraged, they rearranged their merchandise and went on with their day.

"Well, about two hours later I notice I have mail," she said.

It wasn't mail, it was an envelope from a woman who had been shopping Thursday night and left the money for what she had purchased, along with a note and her name.

That pretty much changed their outlook on the whole day, she said.

"I just wanted everyone in Belleville to know that honesty and kindness has not all left our little city," she said. "We do still have great people here in Belleville."

Perhaps the best thing, she said, was showing her children that honesty and self pride is not completely gone.