Service Center holds 'tasteful' open house

Dozens of visitors enjoyed bargain shopping and refreshments the afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 4, during an open house at the Waseca Area Neighborhood Service Center  (WANSC) on Second Street Northwest in Waseca.

 

Executive director Cindy Kollander explained the event was a celebration that road construction has finished and the Center is once again easily accessible. It was also a chance to bring the community in to see the redesigned shopping area–a project which was accomplished during a two-week closure the Center took when construction made customer traffic into and out of the store nearly impossible.

 

The new layout has lines of clothing racks running parallel to one another in the east side of the store, the toys and household goods now in the west side, and two new designated areas–one to display “vintage” items and another for furniture.

 

During the open house, shoppers were invited to sign up for door prizes.

 

They were also encouraged to visit the food shelf, where Waseca resident Melissa Olson was serving taco soup, fish tacos, and no-tahini hummus, all of which she made using items currently available at the food shelf.

 

Olson said she signed up to make and serve the food as a way to demonstrate how versatile the offerings at the facility can be. “I raised my family in a one-parent household with a single  income,” Olson described. “That really taught me to be creative in my cooking. I  found bargains where I could, then made the best of what I found.

 

“I saw this as a chance to share what I learned.”

 

Olson shared her recipes as liberally as the tasty food.