People shop at the Iola Seniors Citizens Inc. thrift shop to find bargains.
Shirts are 20 cents apiece; jeans cost a quarter; shoes, 20 cents; and a sackful of clothes can be had for $1.
Wednesday afternoon saw a steady stream of shoppers. Some were there to piece together Halloween costumes from a variety of remnants. Others had the chilly forecast in mind and were looking for coats and boots.
To a one, the shoppers are cost-conscience and live within tight budgets.
For the most part the shoppers also planned to vote in favor of a new Allen County Hospital in Tuesday’s election. Of those who agreed to go on record, all were in favor of a new hospital. The detractors did not want to be named.
“Definitely yes,” said Suzanne Hobbs, Iola. “Our hospital needs to be as good as Chanute’s.” Hobbs ventured that a new hospital would attract new doctors and would ensure new equipment.
Thrift shop volunteers Richard and CeCe Huston echoed Hobbs’ opinions about Chanute’s Neosho Memorial Regional Hospital.
In the past year, Richard Huston said he had been hospitalized twice.
“I loved staying at Chanute’s hospital,” he said, especially noting the food service. “When they answer the phone for your food order, they say ‘room service,’ just like a hotel,” he said.
His wife, CeCe, said the foldout sofa allowed her to stay overnight in her husband’s room, adding that Allen County’s hospital rooms are too small to accommodate any such furniture.
CeCe said a new hospital is imperative “or this town will die.”
“We also need to keep our dollars in town,” she said, adding that she feared new doctors are being lured away to nicer facilities in nearby towns.
“We need to keep moving forward as a community. A new hospital would help us do that,” CeCe said.
Joyce Adair, LaHarpe, agreed.
“Life around us doesn’t stand still,” she said. “I have no complaints about Allen County Hospital, but I understand it needs to be upgraded.”
