Lone Oak Community Center librarian Bill Helrigel displays irises in bloom at his Signal Mountain home. This year marks a decade he has been selling irises semiannually to benefit the Lone Oak library, with his next sale scheduled for Saturday, June 4 from 8 a.m. until the bulbs sell out.
Photo by Emily CrismanLone Oak Community Center librarian Bill Helrigel is busy preparing for his semiannual iris sale to help purchase new books for the library. The sale will be held in conjunction with Lone Oak’s monthly Big Country Breakfast Saturday, June 4, with breakfast hours from 7:30 to 10 a.m. and the sale from 8 a.m. until all bulbs are gone.
Helrigel has been selling irises since he moved from Michigan to Signal Mountain a decade ago in 2001, when he made $100 to benefit the library. Proceeds from his last sale were more than 10 times that amount, he said.
He holds one sale in the spring and another during the Highway 127 Sale. The funds raised are used to purchase new books for the library which are currently featured on the New York Times Bestseller List, he said.
“We usually have seven out of 10 of the bestsellers in the library,” said Helrigel of the free library, which he operates along with his daughter Cathy Pierce.
He said the library is self-sufficient and runs off donations. The funds raised through the sales give users access to about five new and popular titles a month.