BLOOMINGTON – The 60th anniversary of the Annual Illinois Mennonite Relief Sale will be held at Interstate Center, in Bloomington Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17.

Many specialty booths include arts and crafts, needlework, baby items, flowers, books, curly fries, popcorn, ice cream, and hundreds of dozens of fresh doughnuts.

One of the newest booths will offer freshly brewed coffee, cafe latte, mochachino, cappuccino, chai latte, and hot chocolate.

Friday’s auction starts at 6:30 p.m. with the auction of quilts beginning at 7:45 p.m. On Saturday, the Grand Auction begins at 8:30 a.m. with quilts cried at 9 a.m. and again at 11 a.m.

Of great interest each year are approximately 100 beautiful quilts, comforters, and wall hangings. Other auction items include Amish furniture, lawn furniture, handmade doll house, tools, toys, vacation getaways, coins, theme baskets, paintings, and some Wild Wing favorites.

Many kinds of pies: fresh strawberry, peach, apple, gooseberry, pecan, rhubarb, mincemeat, and the traditional shoo-fly pie will be available. Other delicacies include hundreds of loaves of homemade bread, noodles, cakes, cookies, candies, jams and jellies, cheeses, and dried fruits.

Creating an interest in the unusual each year are the overseas craft items presented by the Ten Thousand Villages booth. Here sale-goers find baskets, jewelry, linens, brass, leather goods, and unique musical items.

The past 59 sales have netted $8,132,930 for world-wide relief. For the past thirty-two years, twenty percent of the net Illinois sale income has been used locally to provide food for the needy in Central Illinois; this totals $1,332,827.

Admission and parking are free. A variety of food concessions will be available.

For more information please contact Relief Sale Executive Secretary Mrs. Don (Ruthie) Roth at (309) 266-7704 or Coordinator Jess Slager at (309) 253-3838 or www.ilreliefsale.org.