Rotary Auction not accepting large appliances this year

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 30, 2026

This year marks the 66th annual Bainbridge Island Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale, which will take place July 11 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Woodward Middle School.

The fundraising event is organized and run by the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island and over 2,400 community volunteers. Every summer, Rotary takes over the entire campus of the middle school, with over 30 departments in classrooms, under tents outside, in parking lots, and on the athletic field. All of the work culminates in one large sale, with net proceeds going back into local and international communities via Rotary Club projects, grants and scholarships.

The auction and rummage sale first began in 1960 when Bainbridge Islanders decided they needed a new library. To raise funds, islanders collected donations and Rotary took the lead. The first auction raised nearly $6,000 toward library construction, and in 1961, the second annual auction took place, raising $4,000 to purchase furniture for the new building. Each year after that, the event continued. Over the past 65 years, the gross revenue from the auction has totaled more than $12.2 million dollars before net revenue, which has been approximately $9 million.

Donation drop-offs

Drive-through donations will occur July 5 through July 8 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. This year, however, Rotary will not be taking any large appliances due to space limitations and the cost of disposal. They will no longer accept refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, ovens, stoves, washers, dryers or trampolines over six feet in diameter.

Brian Marks, the chair for this year’s auction, shared that there is very little buyer demand for large appliances and that they take up a fair amount of valuable space.

He also shared that last year, Rotary implemented traffic flow improvements that were successful and will continue this year. For donation drop-offs, there will be the addition of a designated truck and van unloading area, which significantly speeds up the car drop-off line for folks who only have a carload of donations.

Free shuttle service

The change to traffic on sale day, which was new last year and will continue, will be two additional parking locations served by a shuttle and the addition of an extra shuttle bus. Five courtesy buses will serve six park-and-ride locations, bringing shoppers to the sale at a stop on New Brooklyn Road.

The park-and-ride locations include Bainbridge First Baptist Church, Ordway Elementary School & Church of Jesus Christ of LDS, Bainbridge High School, Bethany Lutheran Church, Sands Ballfield and the Ferry Bus Terminal.

The free shuttle bus service begins at 5:30 a.m. on sale day, with the last bus leaving Woodward Middle School at 3:30 pm.

Parking

A limited number of free accessible parking spaces are located inside the south gate entrance to Woodward Middle School.

Street parking is available close by as well. Sportsman Club Road between Highway 305 and New Brooklyn Road is extremely limited. All vehicles must be parked facing the southbound direction, especially if parking overnight before the sale. Sportsman Club Road is restricted to one-way southbound traffic only on sale day from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Parking in the North Town Woods subdivision is restricted to one side of the street from 4 p.m. on Friday until 3 p.m. on Saturday, and no parking is allowed on either side of Grizdale Lane from 4 p.m. on Friday until 3 p.m. on Saturday.

In case of an emergency, it is essential that first responders have unrestricted access to the middle school. To ensure this access, no parking is allowed along the north side of New Brooklyn Road between Madison Avenue and Sportsman Club Road from Thursday until 3 p.m. on Saturday. Restricted areas will be cordoned off.

The police will ticket and/or tow vehicles in violation of any rules, including parking in a No Parking zone, vehicles blocking driveways, or vehicles not being parked 100% off the roadway.