HANSVILLE — As hundreds of people crowded at the “starting line” at the Greater Hansville Community Center Saturday morning, excited chatter and shouts were the preferred methods of communication. They were also pretty much the only ones that could be heard clearly as ecstatic residents craned their necks, spotting items they wanted to buy.

The mob of bargain hunters pressed against caution tape surrounding the center, and GHCC volunteers and shoppers waited for the countdown to the 9 a.m. opening with equal anticipation.

This was the scene at the annual Hansville Rummage Sale, which has grown in popularity over the years throughout the North End community. Shoppers who showed up early Saturday morning were able to snatch up highly prized goods, but Sunday promised prices cut in half. By Sunday afternoon, the sale was looking cleaned out with a small number of diehard garage sale-goers still poking through remaining items.

“I did find something that was really fun,” said Kingston resident Sara Foster. “It’s a reading table that slides under your chair. I’ve been looking for one for years, but not wanting to pay full price. They’re usually pretty expensive, and the one I found here was a deal.”

The furniture was arranged outside in the community center parking lot under tents along with clothing and linen items. The rest of the sections, including a new one for home decor, were housed in the center itself and its outlying buildings.

The sale has become the GHCC’s largest fund raiser of the year, this year bringing in thousands of dollars for scholarships, building maintenance and the annual concert at Buck Lake Park.

Many of the shoppers were people who lived in Hansville at one time, or have family in the area and come to the North End for the sale. Some have made the big weekend a traditional stop, and tie it in to visiting friends and family.

“I used to live up here and I’m up visiting a friend,” said San Diego, Calif. resident Geni Mudderman. “I’m glad I drove my car, because now I can pack in all the goodies I’m buying today.”

She was seeking cookware and small appliances to help out her nephew, who moved into his first apartment recently. The box of pots she had already claimed and the George Foreman Grill she was inspecting proved Mudderman was having great luck finding items to assist her family member.

“I’m looking to help him stock up,” she said. “I’m still taking everything in and still looking around, but I have found some items that will help him out.”

“Two people have already told me this is this sale is better organized and better run than the Bainbridge Island one,” said Hansville resident and past sale volunteer Julie Morrison. She took this year off from the event, but received excellent feedback from shoppers. “One gal said Bainbridge Island has priced her out.”

Leftover items that were unable to entice shoppers were either taken to the dump or stored until next year. The organizers and volunteers will begin planning for the next sale in early 2008 and are now taking a well-deserved break.