What is a ‘Hey Day’?

Some of the Hey Day volunteers who have served for at least 10 years of the largest indoor garage sales in eastern Ontario, and the Auxiliary’s biggest fundraiser.

submitted by Jean Gallant, KDHA Volunteer

Have you ever heard people talking about ‘Hey Day’ and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Way back in 1960, a group of volunteers with the Kemptville Hospital Auxiliary got together and decided to hold a garage sale to raise funds towards the campaign to build a new hospital for Kemptville. It started out fairly small, and even featured a fortune teller in the early days, but was well supported. The sale grew over the years and eventually took over the curling rink, generating ever-increasing excitement as the yearly event was eagerly anticipated by folks from Kemptville and the surrounding community. By 2019, it had grown to be one

Over the 59 years of Hey Day, more than $1.5 million has been raised, all of which goes directly to purchasing hospital equipment such as pain pumps, surgical supplies, heart monitor, defibrillator, a blanket warmer, etc.

Then along came covid. Things ground to a halt, including Hey Day. Even so, thanks to the generosity of the Kemptville community, last year the Auxiliary was able to carry on with some fundraising activities that allowed us to donate $60,000 towards the fundraising efforts for a new CT Scanner for the hospital.

And now we’re excited to announce that Hey Day is back! The tradition goes on! Mark your calendars for Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10, when doors will open to the 60th Hey Day garage sale! You’ll find amazing deals, a big 50/50 draw, and lots of treasures.

Please remember the sale when you’re doing spring cleaning or downsizing. We’ll be sharing donation drop-off times and location as we get closer to the date. Without your donations there would not be a Hey Day, and most importantly the donation of “time”! We rely 100% on volunteers for this event. If you would like to be a part of the excitement, please contact the Kemptville Hospital Auxiliary at kdh_volunteer@ kdh.on.ca, or call us at 613447-4492.