Watson Lake Carpentry students help expand community thrift store

WATSON LAKE—The Anglican Church Thrift Store in Watson Lake will be one-half larger when it reopens this spring. The 780 square foot store has a 480 square foot addition. The construction was done entirely by students in the Skills for Employment Carpentry program run by the town’s Yukon College community campus.

“We are extremely happy with the end result. The store was getting far too crowded,” said Jenny Skelton, one of the four women who staff the store on a volunteer basis. “The students worked very well together and did a great job.”

“The Thrift Store is used by everybody in the community whether to donate or select items.”

Skelton noted that the original building was also constructed by community campus students back in 1990. The Thrift store has operated in the community since 1970. The students also added a changing room to the store.

“The original building held up well” said Rick Harder, Red Seal carpentry instructor for the program. “Projects like this are a great way to introduce students to the trade and add value to the community.”

The Anglican Church provided approximately $18,000 in building supplies towards the project and prepared the site for construction.

“We would not have been able to do this without the expertise provided by the College campus and the hard work of the students,” said Skelton. “We are also very grateful to the Town of Watson Lake for their support of the project.”

The eight students, Valarie Shepherd, William Shepherd, Deborah Chadwick, Kevin Pete, Austria Lopez, Rachael Chief, Devin Chief, and Tasha Stewart, aged 18 to 61, were celebrated at a community lunch on Thursday January 26.

A grand re-opening of the Thrift Store, which is closed during winter, is planned for the spring.