No more pencils, no more bookshelves: Floyd Dryden works to clear out surplus items large and small

Shelley McNurney says she was out garage saleing Saturday when her companion noticed a sign that Floyd Dryden Middle School — which officially was shuttered July 1 — was selling and/or giving away a wide range of surplus items. And since “I went to Floyd Dryden way, way, way, way back” they stopped by for a look.

But McNurney said she wasn’t necessarily looking for any sentimental keepsakes.

“It’s been a long time and junior high, frankly, was not my favorite time of my life,” she said. ” I’m happy to be grown up and out of it because it was stressful.”

That said, “I had some good teachers here — really good teacher here,” McNurney said.

McNurney and her aunt, Tami Hesseltine, bought a bagful of smaller items — art supplies and such — for a project the latter does.

“My aunt makes bags for kids,” McNurney said. “She sews them, and she fills them with toys and stuffed animals and crayons, and then she hands them out to needy kids.”

The two women also wandered through the gym of the former school looking at the larger items that included folding cafeteria tables, student and teacher desks, shelves to hold everything from books to tools, artist benches whose sides were decorated by students, a couple of pianos, and a huge assortment of smaller items such as microscopes and computer mice. While they borrowed a tape measure to examine a huge multicolor shelf divided into cube spaces, they determined it was too large for the room of the person they were measuring it for.

Floyd Dryden officials are trying to get rid of as many surplus items as possible after the school was closed as part of the Juneau School District’s consolidation plan that took effect at the beginning of this month. The building is being turned over to the City and Borough of Juneau, whose leaders are scheduled to continue discussing a range of proposals for use of the building by various organizations at an Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee meeting at 12:10 p.m. on Monday.

Surplus items were offered free to government entities on Thursday and Friday, with an open invite to the public from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Items are free for nonprofit entities, while prices for other people are set at $5-$10 for tables, $10 for teacher desks, $2 for student desks, $4 for large filing cabinets and $1 for smaller “miscellaneous” items.

U-Hauls, industrial-grade trucks and other large vehicles were a frequent sight in front of the main building. Three such vehicles were being loaded with an assortment of desks, cabinets and other large items destined for the Chilkat Vistas subdivision that’s under development.

“We just got a new work trailer and we just got done painting,” said Jeremy Mattson, an official with the housing project.

People were waiting outside the entrance when the sale began Saturday and a steady stream of shoppers were arriving throughout the morning, said Kristy Germain, Floyd Dryden’s former principal and the district’s newly named director of operations, late Saturday morning. She said plenty of the items — such as 50-year-old science lab tables with chemically safe surfaces — aren’t typically found at garage sales, and many people were buying items with that mindset.

“We’ve had people setting up their shops and quite a few people have taken file cabinets for tool storage,” she said.

Among the people helping out at the sale were members of Juneau’s high school football team, who at mid-morning were loading a posh black couch (price $20) into a vehicle for a teammate’s bedroom.

“We just needed a couch to hang out with our friends,” said Noah Alt, a quarterback for the team last season, helping load the coach intended for running back Anthony Garcia. “And then we also bought a mini fridge.”

Germain said proceeds from the sale will be used for purposes such as travel for student activities. She said further discussions with take place with city officials about what to do with items left after the surplus sale/giveaway ends Sunday.

“Of course part of our goal is not to put stuff in a landfill,” she said. “There’s still good stuff that can go for different purposes.”

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.