Amity Thrift Shoppe sells gently used treasures

AMITY — The Amity Thrift Shoppe is open this Saturday, May 17.

The Amity Thrift Shoppe is a favorite stop for a group of devoted followers who are looking for bargains. The shoppe has a large inventory of donated goods, which include just about everything from kitchen utensils, sporting goods, books, electrical appliances, clothing, children's items and even occasional sample sales of designer couture. Donations are always welcome during open hours.

Amity is a secluded hamlet in Warwick. In the not too distant past, the large guest house building, now owned by the Chardavogne Group, was the thriving Amity House, a road house where weary travelers could rest and where, during prohibition days, it is reputed they could slake their thirst with illicit apple jack.

Parts of the guest house have seen many changes over the past 40 or more years since the Chardavogne Group has owned it. At one time, a school classroom occupied a front room, the Amity Bakery occupied another end of the building and over the decades, that space has been used as the original Tuscan Restaurant, a pottery studio and now, for the last few years as the Amity Thrift Shoppe.

The shoppe is entirely staffed and run by volunteers from the Chardavogne Group and all proceeds go to the running of the Chardavogne properties which include the guest house in Amity and the main barn property on Chardavoyne Road.

The Chardavogne Group follows the teachings of Willem Nyland who purchased the property in 1967. Nyland was a student of G.I. Gurdjieff and passed these teachings on to the group until his death in 1975. Since that time, his students have kept alive the teachings and practices and maintain the Chardavogne properties. The group, The Institute for Religious Development, Inc., periodically holds open meetings when the public is invited to learn more about the teachings and practices.

The thrift shoppe, which is located at 110 Newport Bridge Road, is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., every first and third Saturday of each month.

For more information on the thrift shoppe or the group, call 845-258-4655.