Free Shack Future?
Shane Nelson.
At Flagstone’s submission deadline (Friday 19 Sept), I was announcing the closing of the Free Shack on 30 Sept, and removal of all donations. As you read this, we should know how that played out.
If you aren’t familiar with the Free Shack, it was in the smallish plastic garden shed at the driveway to Elkhaven at 2325 Northwest Road. As Elkhaven’s resident caretaker, I opened the Shack as a reuse / repurpose way for islanders to share stuff, when COVID had forced closure of the Free Store at the Old School.
Elkhaven was sold effective July 1st, and my contract was was ended by the new owners from Sept 30th. That ís when I move out.
I hope by now that fans of the the Shack are on the way to finding a new place and new structure. And looking at the whole concept. For sure, our community has shown it’s needed. It ís a huge financial benefit to the community. For donors, easy downsizing. For re-users / re-purposers, free used goods. For both, the 24/7/365 access and outside location have made it very easy to use. The financial benefit is surely growing, as prices rise due to Trumpanomics. There ís also the ‘Sale Day’ thrill of wondering what you might find on each visit.
I’ve never seen the Shack as mine and would love to hand it off (maybe that’s already happened). On average I spent many hours a week on managing it. Also, I did a weekly trip to Courtenay. Sometimes took the Free Store’s surplus too. Gave unwanted good stuff to thrift stores (sometimes I brought back their stuff). Some weeks, I also visited Cumberland dump with stuff that was clearly not usable, or could not be recycled here, or was just plain old, bagged household trash (summer visitors were guilty every year).
Some of this work will surely be needed in a new version, and I’ve been urging fans to share ideas on how it could be continued. Though I don’t have the energy or skill to manage the discussion process.
If you haven’t already, see Facebook’s bulletin board for the community discussion – maybe write letters to the papers?
If you used the Shack even rarely, you would know the problems with that space. It was only just OK for a rack of clothing, 2 – 3 shelf units with books / DVD’s, kitchen stuff / small household gear, etc. Stuff was always overflowing on the floor and outside. The bigger pieces (furniture etc.) got damaged by rain. It needs a much bigger space ñ covered ñ plus backup storage. Has anyone stepped up yet to offer a new location? Maybe someone could do some fundraising / grant writing for new buildings etc?
Could it be staffed by volunteers? Although the 24/7 access is a big plus, making it lockable might prevent the problems of trash dumping and the town trips for disposal. We could look at Hornby’s recycle centre / free store for ideas.
A new place would need backup storage at least as big as a garage ñ like we had at Elkhaven. Ideally this would be located very near the open shelves. User traffic needs proper off-street parking so that the bottleneck at the old Shack doesn’t create the same traffic hazard. This happened who-knows-how-often on the bend where Elkhaven driveway is located.
I’ve found a new place to live, thanks. Thanks, too, for the help in moving the donated stuff, wherever it landed – my temporary storage, the Free Store, Recycling, or Cumberland dump.
We’ve been doing something awesome here! And thanks for practising RRR. It helps reduce climate change too.
