FORT SILL, Okla. (May 14, 2015) -- In 1965, The Beatles and Diana Ross and the Supremes topped the pop music charts, gas cost 31 cents a gallon, the Voting Rights Act became law, and, on May 7, the Fort Sill Thrift Shop opened.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary, thrift shop staffers held a birthday party May 9, at the facility during shop hours.

"It's great. It's been run and maintained by volunteers over the years," said thrift shop manager Jessica Marcillo, one of only four paid workers at the shop.

During the celebration, cake and refreshments were served, the 77th Army Band's "Acoustic Fire" ensemble performed a variety of songs from contemporary pop to rock classics from the 1960s; and children had an opportunity to get their faces painted. Staff got into the mood of the festivities by dressing in 1960s fashions.

MISSION

The non-profit thrift shop provides welfare assistance funds for groups that are at least 80 percent military affiliated, Marcillo said. These organizations include Army Community Service; Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation; Boy Scouts; Giddy-Up-N-Go, which provide equine therapy for military families, and many other agencies in the Lawton-Fort Sill community. The shop does this through donated items and consignment sales.

It also provides donated items to needy junior enlisted Soldiers and their families. The store is required to charge Oklahoma state sales tax, which is about 4.8 percent.

The thrift shop is governed by a board -- currently 15 members -- who are retirees, family members, and retired family members, said Marcillo, a non-voting member of the board.

The board also welcomes active-duty Soldiers as members, though that is sometimes difficult for Soldiers because board members are required to also volunteer at the store, the manager said.

The board makes the majority of decisions about welfare funding, as well as all major decisions about the shop, said Marcillo, who has been manager since January 2014.

The structure is provided rent free by the Fort Sill Garrison, however, the shop is responsible for its landscaping and inside cleaning, both of which are contracted out.

HISTORY

Sally Cote has been volunteering with the thrift shop for 34 years.

"My very good friend, Shirley Newton, who was then manager, talked me into in to it," said Cote, whose husband, Col. Robert Cote was the Dental Activity commander when she began.

The thrift shop has been in a few buildings since Cote started in 1981.

"When I started the store was in the PX parking lot in old stables," she said. "Then they switched us up to an old self-help building near the balloon hangar, and we were there a while."

She said she heard a previous location of the shop was in a World War II facility which was used to be a hospital. It has been at its current location at 1713 Gruber Road for 20 years.

VOLUNTEERS

There are currently about 40 volunteers, said Marcillo. The store could not exist without them she said. In addition to the manager, the only paid staff are the assistant manager, cashier, and data entry employee.

Volunteer Barbara Anderson has been donating her time for 20 years at the shop.

"I love volunteering because of the customers and the other volunteers here," Anderson said.

There is also the bargains, Cote chimed in. Volunteers get first dibs to purchase items that are donated or consigned.

It is the volunteers that make the Fort Sill Thrift Shop different from the rest of the thrift shops in Lawton, Marcillo said.

"Our volunteers love what they do, they have their hearts in it," Marcillo said. "They work so hard in organizing this place and keeping it neat. It has an added charm and care in that they want to work for the military community."

Some of the volunteers, like Cote and Anderson have been there for decades, and of course, really get to know the regulars.

A few of the changes Anderson said she has seen over the years are that the store is better managed, there are more customers and the store is bigger. At one of the old facilities, consigners had to line up outside and had to wait just to get a number, she said.

The thrift shop always welcomes new volunteers even if they can just work a couple hours a week.

CONSIGNMENTS

Any DoD ID card holder, DA civilians and contractors can sell items on consignment at the thrift shop. The public cannot.

Consignees get 75 percent of the selling price and they determine the sale price. The staff will assist them with pricing if needed, Marcillo said.

Consignee items can remain on the shelf for 60 days. If not sold by then, the seller must pick it up or it becomes thrift store property.

The thrift shop does not accept personal hygiene items, like hair curlers; washers and dryers; or firearms. It does accept knifes, which are kept in a glass display case, and refrigerators.

All electronics are checked to see that they are in working order, but come with no guarantee, Marcillo said. All sales are final.

Items that don't sell after they have been on the floor a long time, or after markdowns are donated to the Greiner School and Salvation Army thrift stores, Marcillo said.

For more information about consigning or volunteering, call the thrift shop at 580-355-8731, or email thrift shop1@suddenlink.net.