Swap Shop Lively But Need for Volunteers Could Prompt Cutback

On a given day, Hingham residents can find hundreds of previously-owned items at the Swap Shop. The open-air, free market in a corner of the Hobart Street transfer station saves the town money on trash disposal and offers a place for socializing and discovery.

But the shop's current form – volunteer-based and a week-long home for used goods, rather than a place where DPW workers clear daily – faces a reduction in hours if organizers cannot recruit more volunteers.

"We're stretched thin right now," volunteer Meg Robbins said. "We don't want to have to shorten our hours. We don't want to have to close."

The Swap Shop re-opened last fall after a three-month closure prompted by the need for its location to be used as a staging ground for construction at the transfer station.

During that time, there was an outcry for the shop's return, Robbins said, and Hingham's Long Range Waste Disposal and Recycling Committee led the effort to re-locate it and bring in volunteers to screen items and monitor the goods so that Hingham residents can briefly browse Thursdays through Sundays.

There are between 30 and 40 volunteers now who work two-hour shifts whenever they are available. Currently, the hours are Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Volunteers receive a morning of training. They learn what items are accepted, what needs to be trashed (no hazardous materials, TVs, broken items), how to maintain friendly interactions and sticker guidelines.

"It's fun," said Rick Berry, a long-time Hingham resident who started volunteering last fall when the Swap Shop re-opened.

Berry has long had an infatuation with yard sales and finds the volunteerism a nice break from retirement.

"People are interesting," he said. "They don't always know what they want, but they usually leave here with something."

A large section of the Swap Shop is dedicated to children's items, from a stuffed Spiderman figure to a Dora the Explorer table and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movies.

There is tremendous, random variety. Ed Adamson regularly stops by when he cleans out his attic, or when his grandkids age out of toys and books. Last Friday, he was picking up a few books and a game, and looking for anything that caught his eye.

"Somebody's trash is somebody else's treasure," Berry said, echoing the age-old idiom.

Moving along from the children's section, table and shelves fill with records, plates, cups, picture frames and clothes hangers. A table of Christmas ornaments sits next to a fake tree, and across from a couple pairs of wooden speakers.

At one end of the shop, many seasons of sports come together. Ski boots sit next to rollerblades and sneakers. There is pile of duffel bags, golf bags with a few scattered clubs, a tub of basketballs and a bucket of cross country skis. A wooden toboggan is perched against one wall, a weight bench in front of another.

"The price is right," Robbins said. "You never know what kind of treasure you will find."

To volunteer at the Swamp Shop, fill out the Swap Volunteer Application form  on the DPW website. Or find a hard copy in the mailbox on the outside of the volunteer shed in the Swap area. Just fill it out and send in to the DPW office.