Barton Hospice Thrift Store closes

Minden's only thrift store closed its doors Thursday.

Barton Hospice Thrift Store, which was closed because it wasn't profitable, will have a final sale 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 17.

The sale will be coordinated by volunteers. One standard grocery bag filled to the brim with thrift store treasures will cost $2.50.

There is a limit of five bags per person. All proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Locals who routinely donated items to the Hospice Thrift Store may now offer their good, usable donations to Friends in Service Helping at 1231 Service Drive in Gardnerville or Helping Hands Thrift Store at 1418 Industrial Way in Gardnerville.

The former hospice thrift store's 4,200-square-foot building will remain office space for Valley Home Health & Hospice personnel plus consolidated storage space.

Officials said Barton's Hospice Home Health is in fine financial shape and continue to offer medical care to residents of Carson City, the Carson Valley and the Lake Tahoe Basin.

"We're pleased to focus our efforts on hospice care for those needing end-of-life care and their families, and on home health care for those recovering from surgery or illness," said Robin Schmidt, RN, CHPN, Director of Nursing for Home Health & Hospice.

The building's history is long and colorful, dating back to 1907. As this part of the valley was beginning to bustle, the Dangberg Company erected a 250 foot long structure in May of that year, with loading docks stretching to the tracks of the historic V&T Railroad. At the time, the Meyers Mercantile Company rented almost half the building. According to photographs of the original business, Model Ts and horse and buggy rigs cozily shared the busy dirt parking lot.

On Jan. 31, 1926, fire destroyed the mercantile side of the structure. The building was reconstructed and later used as a warehouse.

After the Bently Nevada Corporation purchased the building in 1975, the space became a feed store. Over the years it's been a print shop, a television studio and an engineering facility. The Bently Nevada Corporation still owns the building.

Barton's Home Health & Hospice services are available 24 hours a day by calling 782-1510.