5Rs fashion show raises $2,000 for the Brussels thrift shop, brings the laughs

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

On Tuesday, the Brussels United Church played host to not one, but two fashion shows featuring all the latest looks from 5R’s, the village’s oldest second-hand shop. The shows doubled as a fundraiser for the store, and thrifty fashionistas from all over the community came out to show support for one of their own, and look good doing it. 

 

For the outrageously reasonable price of $10, attendees were treated to a fashion show experience you’re just not going to find anywhere else. The endlessly entertaining event was ably emceed by Brussels’ own Betty Graber-Watson and John Lowe, who kept up a steady stream of vaudevillian patter as an elite team of volunteer supermodels strutted their stuff through three rounds of different looks. The show was also peppered with jokes and tales from the shop’s early days, just to spice things up. Even the food served after the show was stylish!

 

While fashion hubs like Milan and Paris may be world-class when it comes to things like extravagance and excess, Brussels has them beat when it comes to fun. What’s the point in a front row of A-List celebrities if they’re not even allowed to participate in the goings-on? When Brussels puts on a fashion show, audience participation is not just allowed, it’s encouraged. Throughout the show, well-known local jokers added their quips to the mix, good-natured barbs were exchanged between friends and neighbours, and several models were spontaneously joined by members of the audience as they moved around the room - and that was just during the afternoon show! It must have been a full-blown ruckus once the sun went down.

 

For over 30 years, this not-for-profit shop on Turnberry Street has been working to provide the people of Brussels with the things they need, at a price they can afford. Now, those in the know have been frequenting this small but mighty shop for over 30 years, but to the uninitiated, 5R’s might appear to be like any other small town thrift store. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll discover that it’s so much more than just a great place to find a reasonably-priced pair of pants - it’s a true testament to the things a community can achieve when it works together for the greater good. 

 

Some of the shop’s volunteers have been there since the very beginning, like Graber-Watson. She remembers when 5R’s was just an idea brought forth by a local woman named Ida Evans, who felt it was something the community needed at a time when the cost of living was reaching painful new heights. “She was an older lady,” Graber-Watson recalled. “But she just kind of planted enough seeds, and there was enough of us in all the churches that thought, ‘yeah, we should do something about this.’ So we ended-up handpicking people, and they all had what we needed.”

 

The search for a reasonably-priced place for the store was on, and it eventually led their rogue band of volunteers to a storefront on Turnberry Street. The owners, the Mitchells, were looking to sell, but the volunteers needed some time to scrape together the cash. Linda Garland, who prepared the food for the fashion show, remembers what happened next. “The Mitchells held on until we got our act together, so that we could find somebody to buy the store, and then rent it to us,” she explained.

 

Next, they needed to find somebody who was both flush with cash and willing to spend money on a venture that was unlikely to ever turn a buck. That part actually turned out to be pretty easy. One day, that answer just came to Graber-Watson. “I was just doing the dishes, and I thought ‘Dave [Boynton] has money right now - he could buy it for us.’ Isn’t that awful?” she exclaimed. He bought the place at her behest, and rented out the storefront to them.

 

The team, taking the spirit of thriftiness to heart, asked the people of Brussels to donate their unused paint to spruce the place up. “We put the tamer stuff together, and we came up with a beautiful, blue paint to paint the store with,” Garland explained.
From the day they opened their doors, 5R’s has been a favourite spot for locals to shop, gradually becoming a part of the community. It’s evolved along the way, becoming so much more than a store. “The thing that I don’t think people realize - we have a lot of people that will come in, just looking for help. It might just be for somebody to listen - that happens a lot. People will come in, and they’ll just talk. And sometimes you can send them where they need to go… That’s not our mandate - it’s just one of the things that came to be,” Graber-Watson explained. And that support goes both ways - when the shop needs help, it simply reaches out, and the community answers. “Every few years, we have a cash-flow problem,” she said. “And so this year, instead of waiting it out and letting the volunteers worry about the bank account, we decided we’d ask the community for help. And this seemed like a fun way to do it.” 

 

The idea for the fashion show was Lowe’s, a third-generation patron of 5R’s. When he was a child, he’d go in with his grandmother, and his mother was on the board, and now, he’s a dedicated supporter. “I’m a community-minded person - I step up to help out where I can, so that’s why I suggested that we do this fashion show. Others quickly jumped on board, we said we could whip something up, and here we are.”

 

The store’s manager, Patty Vandermeer, couldn’t be happier with how the fashion show went. “It’s absolutely overwhelming!” she declared “The community has been absolutely amazing to us - we wouldn't be here without their donations.”

 

The proceeds from the afternoon show alone have secured the shop spot on Turnberry Street for the foreseeable future, so Graber-Watson and Garland are on to the next thing. “We need a laundromat, and a restaurant in town. We want to get our volunteers together, and actually do something about that, as well,” Garland stated. Any community-minded individuals who happen to be flush with cash they’re looking to invest are instructed to stop by 5R’s for a chat.

 

After taking in Tuesday’s fashion show, one thing is clear: the town of Brussels has an undeniable sense of style - one that runs much deeper than the surface. Maybe it's hometown pride, or a strong sense of community, or even a good, old-fashioned case of can-do attitude. Whatever it is, the rest of the world needs more of it.

 

So next time you’re passing through Brussels, stop by 5R’s and take a look around. You just might find that thing you didn’t even know you were missing.