Friends hold sale to support cancer victim

PALMER -- A group of downtown Palmer merchants is pulling together to raise funds for a neighbor, the owner of the Palmer Commercial Co., who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

The store's owner, Celeste Schaut, had to leave suddenly last month when she was diagnosed. Downtown friends and business owners are banding together to sell her inventory. They hope the sale will help Schaut recover her costs and perhaps pay some of her bills.

"It's an act of love and gratitude for a woman who has made a lasting difference in downtown Palmer," said Denise Statz, owner of NonEssentials. "Celeste was a real visionary. She jumps into everything with such energy and determination. We're all hoping and praying that that same determination is going to see her through this illness."

The public sale of dresses, sweaters, blouses and scarves begins at 10 a.m. Sept. 24 at the Palmer Commercial Co., 716 South Alaska Street, and will continue through Saturday, Sept. 28. Volunteers will run the shop during the sale.

Celeste Moore and Kathi Fike are coordinating the sale. Mail Boxes Etc. owner Stacie Stigar is printing invitations. Verda Lewis, owner of Verda's Cakes and Things, is donating refreshments. Sisters of Essence owner Joanna Buckley-Lee contributed door prizes and a mailing list to support the effort. Denise Statz, owner of NonEssentials, also is helping, as are David Cheezem and Melissa Behnke, co-owners of Fireside Books.

Before Schaut was diagnosed with cancer, she spent hours "begging, cajoling and prodding area merchants to build support for Palmer's new farmer's market, dubbed Friday Flings," Cheezem wrote in a release announcing the sale. "Schaut even went so far as to close her store on Fridays when no one else was available to sell local produce at the market," he wrote.

The rationale behind the Friday Flings was to draw people to the downtown area, Cheezem said. "She helped us all to understand that downtown Palmer has the potential to become a shopping destination again."

Tragically, her diagnosis came in just as her project was getting off the ground. The Friday Fling market continues under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce.

For more information or to make a donation, call Fireside Books at 745-2665.