Find Clean, New and Nearly New Toys at ACC’s October Flea Market

Shoppers at this weekend’s ACC Flea Market fundraiser will have the chance to pick up some great toys at great prices at the children’s table.

New and very nearly new toys will again be available at the Children’s Table at the St. John Animal Care Center’s Flea Market on Saturday, October 22, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Winston Wells ball filed in Cruz Bay.

Carefully chosen large and small colorful, sturdy toys and some games and puzzles will sell for half or less of their store prices. Every dollar earned at the Children’s Table will go directly towards the care, shelter, feeding, and medical needs of the island’s homeless cats and dogs.

Well-known brands such as Fisher-Price, Little Tykes, and even a large, rigid plastic Home Depot child’s workbench will be featured as well as several games and puzzles from the Boston Science Museum.

Some examples include a lion-headed riding scooter with a light-up nose, and a pretty pink bathtub for Barbie with faucets that gurgle water sounds when touched. Where batteries are called for, they’ve been installed so that children can enjoy their new toys right away.

In addition to the larger toys, there will be smaller items in the $3, $4, and $5 range. There may even be a Pirate’s Chest from which children can select two or three little items for $1. Several brand-new children’s books will also be at the table

All year, part-time residents John and Elaine Campbell search for appealing toys that they bring down from Boston during their three yearly flights back to their St. John home. Every item is spotlessly clean and many of the toys and puzzles are in their original packaging. During past ACC flea markets, some forward-planning parents and grandparents bought toys and put them aside for birthdays or Christmas.

When the ACC planned its first flea market five years ago, the Campbells saw an opportunity to donate the excess toys that their grandchildren received.

The children often received duplicate toys from parents, Godparents, aunts and uncles. Elaine admitted that her grandchildren, Rowan, Grace, Grant, and William, are fortunate children who sometimes lacked interest in a new gift, and the children happily shared their abundance to help the animals of St. John.

When Campbell’s neighbors in Sudbury, Massachusettes, learned about the mission to bring suitable, attractive toys to share with the island children, at the same time benefiting the homeless cats and dogs of the island, more and more items turned up at the Campbell home.

As a consequence, the grandparents always board their plane laden like pack ponies carrying shopping bags and bundles of peculiar shapes and sizes.

They’ve become accustomed to defending to flight attendants the number of their carry-on pieces of luggage.

The ACC “No Fleas, Please” market will be on October 22 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Winston Wells ball field in Cruz Bay.

Come see what childhood treasures will be available at the Children’s Table and don’t plan to bargain because everything is already fairly priced. As this event is a charity for our island animals, purchase costs can be claimed as tax-deductible donations.