We are thrilled to report that we raised $10,471 at the MV Big Flea last Saturday, April 26.  Added to the sales we made before the event, we raised a total of $18,226!  This represents a 117% increase over the amount raised last year.

Thanks to your support, the Mount Vernon Community School PTA can continue to improve the lives of Alexandria’s public school students.  The funds we raised will be used for after school clubs, field trips, teacher supplies and extracurricular events like Hispanic Heritage Night and the Family Fun Fair.

This event has been a lot of fun and I’ve received many nice comments from many of you.  Thank you again for your support of this event and our school PTA.  Please feel free to contact me if I can ever be of assistance to you.

Please note that this represents a small fraction of the items we’ll be selling this Saturday, April 26, at the MV Big Flea! Early admission begins at 8am ($10) and general admission begins at 9am. At 12 noon everything is 50% off and at 2pm everything is FREE. The MV Big Flea will be held at the Mount Vernon Community Center, 2701 Commonwealth Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22305. The phone number for the Center is (703) 838-4825. We do not accept credit cards or checks.

I never would have imagined that so many adults would be interested in a box of Legos that will be at the MV Big Flea this Saturday. At least six people have contacted me about them, sending multiple emails asking if they could be purchased before the event.

To be honest, I was starting to get a little frustrated by all the email traffic. With approximately 2000 items to transport, organize, clean, arrange and price; 50 volunteers to recruit and organize; 25 signs to create and post around the neighborhood; and much more to do before the big event, a $19 box of Legos is, how shall I say this, not very high on my priority list.

But Shawn Lewis, after being told that the Legos could not be purchased before the event, asked a prescient question.

“Could you at least tell me where you will be set-up so I’m not looking everywhere?”

What a great idea! I’d planned on distributing a map at the event, but why not distribute it now??? That way, our Wild West/Gold Rush stampede on Saturday morning will be a little more….orderly?

You too can obtain a map of the floor plan, as well as the Big Flea “Rules of Engagement” by clicking here. This document will also be distributed on Saturday morning. But with 3 days advance notice, you’ll know exactly where to look for that special something.

We are very pleased to report that Mount Vernon Community School PTA past President Mimi Carter has been named PTA volunteer of the year for Northern Virginia. Carter received the award last night at a ceremony attended by more than 100 people.

Among her many achievements, Carter was recognized for her leadership in initiating last year’s MV Big Flea and working to make this year’s event a success. Last year the event raised more than $8,000 and is slated to gross more than $12,000 in 2008.

The MV Big Flea will be held Saturday, April 26 come rain or shine. Early admission is at 8am ($10) and general admission begins at 9am (free). At noon, everything is 50% off and at 2pm everything is FREE. The MV Big Flea will be held at the Mount Vernon Rec Center, 2701 Commonwealth Ave, in the Del Ray section of Alexandria.

My eyes opened wide and I stared at the clock. It had just struck 4am. With 11 days to go before the Big Flea, I dreamed we had too much stuff, not enough volunteers and too few buyers. The clock ticked as I tried to fall back asleep.

What would the famed interpreter of dreams say about this? In all likelihood, “You need help.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Will you please help us promote the MV Big Flea? We have created and posted on our website a new promotional flyer (in the Blogroll section at left). Please download it, print it and post it in your workplace or another visible location in your community.

Will you volunteer for a three-hour shift? We need at least 60 volunteers Friday and Saturday and currently have 36. Child care will be provided on Saturday and lunch on Friday. To sign up, please contact Mimi Carter at 202.627.9748 or MCarter@virilion.com.

I’m sure that’s not the kind of “help” Freud would recommend, but I know it would make me sleep better at night.

The MV Big Flea will be held Saturday, April 26 come rain or shine. Early admission is at 8am ($10) and general admission begins at 9am (free). At noon, everything is 50% off and at 2pm everything is FREE. The MV Big Flea will be held at the Mount Vernon Rec Center, 2701 Commonwealth Ave, in the Del Ray section of Alexandria.

Moving, organizing and selling three garagefulls of treasures takes a lot of work.  That’s why with just 11 days remaining before the MV Big Flea, we’re spending most of our time recruiting volunteers.  And just in case you were wondering, that means YOU!

We estimate that we need at least 17 people on the floor of the event at any given moment; with three hour shifts, that means we need at least 50 people on Saturday plus an equal number on Friday to organize and price all this junk these wonderful treasures.  Though many have already signed up, we still need more people to volunteer for a three-hour shift.  Not only is it for a good cause, we’re going to make it fun.

Dan Solomon “signed up” to be this year’s “coffee fetcher,” one of our most critical positions given our   8am start time.  “I can think of no better way to help support the cause,” he said, “than dashing off bleary-eyed to Misha’s, our official coffee supplier, at 7am on a Saturday morning,” Dan said.  Other important jobs that need filling include organizers, movers, sorters and roamers.

Among those “taking one for the team” include: Amanda Lenk, Azeb Kifle , Brigid Schulte , Chris Ammon, Dan Solomon  , Davi McDonald, Hal Cardwell, Jane Richardson, Jen Greiner, Jenny Curry, Jill Ammon, Joe LaMountain, John Donaldson, JoMarie Hoholik , Karen Sosnowski , Karla Harr, Katherine Carraway, Kathy Flanigan, Larry Williams, Laura Dove, Margo Williams, Maria Getoff, Mary Huber, Marianne Bailey, Melissa Gouffray, Mike Grainger, Mimi Carter , Paige Granger, Patrice Linehan, Paul Moniz , Sabrina Detlef, Sharon Smith, Smitty Smith , Susan Rutherford , Tracy Enger and Tricia Waller.

To volunteer, please contact Mimi Carter at MCarter@virilion.com or 202.627.9748.  Many thanks for your ongoing support of this event.

I want you to want me.

I need you to need me.

Everyone remembers this classic Cheap Trick song (at least I hope everyone does).  But it’s taken on a whole new meaning this year with the MV Big Flea.  Because we’re in dire need of volunteers for the big event, we’ve decided to make this the theme song of our volunteer recruitment drive!

I’d love you to love me

I’m beggin you to beg me.

With three garagefulls of donated items, and more to arrive, we have a lot of work to do.  We need haulers and sorters, cleaners and organizers, arrangers, kidwatchers and roamers, .  We’re organizing volunteers into three hour shifts on both Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26.  If you can devote just three hours of your time, it would make a world of difference.

Ill shine up the old brown shoes, put on a brand-new shirt.

Ill get home early from work if you say that you love me.

It’s hard to believe that the Big Flea is just 16 days away. We’ve received a tremendous outpouring of support for the event and hope we can count on you during the homestretch. To volunteer, please contact Joe LaMountain at 202.288.5124 or joseph.lamountain@gmail.com

“A family that lived in our house left a bunch of boxes in the attic,” Mary Denby wrote me last week. “Would you like to go through them and see if there are any treasures for the Big Flea?” she asked.

Magic to my ears.

My six-year-old (the one with a penchant for phones that are not working) pleaded to come with me. Not knowing what I’d find, or the space in which I’d be confined, I demurred. Shortly after dinner on Tuesday evening, I trucked over to the Denbys for a little sleuthing. Interrupting their dinner, Chris and Mary welcomed me into their home and escorted me to the dusty attic. There they were, about 20 old boxes with who knows what inside them.

The first contained a bunch of old stuffed toys. And so did the second. And third. The next few had old kids and baby clothes. None of this was really Big Flea material, but I soldiered on. And that’s when I found it. Ironically, it was stuck in a box filled with a variety of threadbare stuffed animals: a giant human skull with a removable brain.

“Can we play with it?” my girls asked when I returned home a little later.

“You’re not keeping that thing, are you?” my wife asked hopefully.

I’m sorely tempted to do so. After all, it’s one of the strangest items we’ve yet received, equally eerie, educational and just plain gross. But I think I’d rather see someone walk away with it on April 26, a big smile on their face, and more money in our pocket.

For the last six weeks, MV Big Flea volunteers have scoured metro DC for donations. During this time, more than 150 families have donated a wide array of items. So many items, in fact, that we have filled three single car garages with stuff: furniture, baby/kids gear, toys, household items, electronics, sporting goods, jewelry, small appliances and much, much more.

For this reason, we will only accept new donations on April 25 at the Mount Vernon Community Center in Del Ray (the day before the actual event). To donate, simply deliver your items to the Rec Center on the 25th between 9am and 6pm. Unfortunately, we’ll have very limited ability to pick up items on the 25th; if you have something particularly valuable that needs to be picked up, please contact Joseph LaMountain at joseph.lamountain@gmail.com or 202.288.5124. Many thanks!