Annual yard sale benefit for TSO reaches 10th anniversary

What started 10 years ago as one couple’s desire to support music education has evolved into a yearly event that has garnered more than $46,000 for the Tecumseh Schools Orchestra program.

The Friends of Tecumseh Schools Orchestra’s 10th Annual Yard Sale will be held at 301 N. Union St. on Thursday and Friday, July 21 and 22 from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, July 23 from 8 a.m. until noon. Donations of items to sell are being accepted at 705 W. Chicago Blvd., and donors can call 517.260.1899 for more information or to volunteer.

In 2006, Wes and Theresa Powers decided to hold a yard sale to raise money to contribute to a fund for an orchestra room at the high school. As avid flea market and yard sale frequenters, they had the knowledge to pull off a grand event. They gathered things from friends to add to their accumulated stash of items, sorted, cleaned, repaired and priced each treasure, and stored it all in their garage until the day of the sale.

The second year, they collected so much merchandise to sell that they had to rent a storage unit to hold it all until they could set up the yard sale.

The couple didn’t have children involved in the music program at Tecumseh Schools, but Theresa did have an inspiration for her efforts. Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson was a violinist who taught violin until she was almost 90 years old. When Wilson retired and moved back to Tecumseh, she became the Powers’s neighbor. “We kind of became her family,” said Theresa, “We became very close.”

After Wilson died in 2001, she left the bulk of her $3.8 million estate to the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation, which was formed to support music and the performing arts. Theresa knew she wanted to carry on Wilson’s dream of an orchestra in Tecumseh Schools, so she became the Executive Director of the Foundation, and continued to work toward expanded orchestra programs.

For seven years the Powers spent a month of their time every spring to manage the growing influx of donations. Over time the orchestra program grew, and sharing the present band room solved the need for a separate room.  A grant from the Elizabeth Ruthruff Wilson Foundation supplied funds to remodel a storage room at the high school to house orchestra instruments, so the yard sale proceeds that had been raised were put into an account at the Lenawee Community Foundation for future large-scale music education projects.

The funds raised by subsequent yard sales were allocated by a group of parents who named themselves the Friends of Tecumseh Schools Orchestra, a booster club separate from the school, but with music teachers involved. This group was able to add to the orchestra experience by financing orchestra awards, nine special guest artist concerts, six lock-ins to prepare for orchestra festivals, and other enhancements to benefit music students.

Theresa said the yearly sale takes the pressure off students. “It’s our main fundraiser of the year, so kids don’t have to be out selling things,” she said. She enjoys seeing past orchestra students show up, some of whom are now music teachers, themselves.

Since its start in 2003, the orchestra program has seen incredible growth. Thirty-one students signed up the first year. The next year, there were 60 students, and the year after that, 120 students. Last year the Tecumseh Schools Orchestra program boasted 350 members from grades five through high school. “We’re getting a new orchestra teacher next year and we’re excited about that,” Theresa said.

Three years ago, the Powerses decided to hand over the responsibility for the sales to Dawn Bird, but they still support the effort by hosting the event in their front yard on North Union Street. Garnering donations has never been an issue, but finding volunteers to help organize, price, and set up the sale has been a challenge.

Bird, who has a daughter in orchestra and two older children who went through the program, enlists the help of parents to gather items, and the word spreads quickly. Another orchestra parent, Heidi Barnes, has been instrumental in pulling people together for support. “I’ve been grateful for all of her help,” Bird said.

Bird has high hopes for this 10th anniversary sale. “I’m on my third storage unit and my house is packed. It’s a lot to go through, but it’s all worth it in the end.” She welcomes volunteers who can help set up the sale on the evening of Wednesday, July 21. “I’ll take all the volunteers I can get,” she said.

Through all the triumphs for the orchestra programs at Tecumseh Schools, Theresa Powers has held on to the memory of Wilson, the music lover who never got to see her dream realized. “She was kind of my mentor, and she got me doing things I never dreamed of doing,” she said. There are scores of orchestra students who now can say the same.