BERLIN – A familiar Berlin shop marks half a century of charitable service in the historic town this year.
The Church Mouse, the thrift shop operated by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Main Street, celebrated its 50th anniversary May 26.
“We’re hoping to go on for the next 50 years,” said Helen Wiley, the shop’s coordinator.
The Church Mouse has been a Berlin institution since it was launched in the mid-1960s. Wiley says the shop got off the ground through the leadership of Violet Mathews, better known as Miss Vi, and her daughter, Ruth Neville. Annabelle Hastings was the other key force behind the Church Mouse.
“Those three ladies planted the seed,” said Wiley, who herself has been giving her time to the Church Mouse for nearly a decade. “We like to say we’re the water to continue the outreach to the community.”
The shop was originally located in space at the Atlantic Hotel before being relocated to a warehouse near Cheers.
“There we had a dirt floor and a potbelly stove,” Wiley said.
About 30 years ago, the shop was moved to a small space at 101 N. Main St. It’s been there ever since.
Today, the Church Mouse continues to operate much as it did when it was started. Wiley and a crew of 14 volunteers collect donations from the community, sorting them and pricing them before putting them on display in the shop. Once rent and utility bills are paid, the money raised through the sale of the shop’s inventory is used to support various charitable programs, ranging from Meals on Wheels to Diakonia. The Church Mouse, Wiley pointed out, was raising money for worthy causes and at the same time providing area residents with a place to buy affordable clothes and household goods. That was something the shop’s early volunteers valued.
“The girls would say you’re exhausted when you go home but you knew you’d clothed a baby whose father had been incarcerated or something like that,” Wiley said.
Other times, the store has served people whose homes have burned down and belongings have been destroyed. Often, when they’re back on their feet they’ll donate to the shop.
“They know they’ve been helped here,” Wiley said.
Wiley says the thrift shop is dependent on the support of the community. Thanks to the generosity of area residents, the Church Mouse sees a steady stream of donations. Items they can always use, Wiley said, included seasonal clothing, household items, books and jewelry.
“You never know what you’re going to get,” she said. “You have to work with what you have.”
Anyone interested in donating to the shop is asked to call Wiley at 443-513-6655. The shop is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. the second Friday of each month.
