After 28 years of service to the Sunriver area, The Second Tern Thrift Shop remains a center for sharing resources and creating community. In the front of the building, the store seems like any other typical thrift store, stacks of microwaves, dusty chandeliers. Quilts hang from the ceilings and display cases are full of belt buckles and costume jewelry.

But as you delve deeper, as you talk to customers and volunteers alike, you begin to find that The Second Tern is so much more.

“It’s Margaret’s birthday today,” exclaimed Gail Beeson, the longtime Volunteer Coordinator of the famed Sunriver thrift store, “so there’s cheesecake.”

But there’s always cheesecake, or coffee cake, or pie, or some delectably sweet treat to share, I’m assured by the army of people that are puttering around just on the other side of the “staff door,” more than 60 volunteers total.

“One of our volunteers always donates Bellatazza Coffee for everyone,” added Beeson.

“It’s good coffee, too,” another volunteer chimes in.

The atmosphere is lighthearted and jovial. There are people dancing, literally dancing with one another and singing along to the radio as they go about their work.

“It’s so much fun to be a part of this place,” said Kathy Glading, who’s been volunteering at The Tern for more than 11 years. Glading is in charge of linens and Christmas lights. “You’d be surprised with how many people donate Christmas lights,” she said with informed deference, her voice slightly hushed as if to be more reverent of the holiday.

“I was a longtime shopper here,” she continued, “and one day I came in to do some shopping. There were two volunteers laughing and just having a marvelous time. They took me back here to see what happens, and I’ve been a volunteer ever since. … We care for each other. We have a good time.”

Part of what The Tern does is to also share that sense of community beyond its own doors. Many locals know that The Tern was started by Jay and Teresa Bowerman as a way to raise funds for the Sunriver Nature Center and Oregon Observatory.

“Everything supports the nature center,” said Beeson. “We all believe in what the nature center does. That’s a big part of why we’re all here.”

But the giving and the community-centered attitude of the volunteers, who affectionately refer to themselves as the “Pawn Stars of Central Oregon,” spills into many other outlets that you might not know about.

Each week The Tern sends donations of their own to the La Pine Community Kitchen.

“Sometimes, they really need blankets or kids clothes,” offered Beeson. “Or sometimes the (Three Rivers) school knows a family in need. … People are so generous to us, and we have so much that we want to share what we can, too.”

The Second Tern also works with Allied Environmental Services to reduce the amount of trash put into landfills through practices including metal recycling.

“We want to keep as much as possible out of the landfills,” said six-year volunteer Phil Dean. Dean receives and sorts incoming donations and also works on making donated electronics operational.

“I triage what comes in,” the former ER doctor from Eugene continued. “We recycle metal. We fix old BBQs. It helps the environment. It helps the nature center, and it helps us have a good time.”

“We have over 60 volunteers that make this place run,” said Beeson. Volunteers at Second Tern do everything from sorting and pricing donations to helping customers to training other volunteers.

“Volunteers are really at the core of what we do. It’s the community helping the community, which is a really powerful thing to see.”

When I visited, there was an old ATM machine for sale in the front courtyard. It stuck out amidst the second-hand bicycles, living room furniture, even an errant basketball hoop, but I quickly discovered that the oddity of a gas station ATM wasn’t what made The Tern so special.

“We get a lot of strange things,” said volunteer Danil Hancock. “We had to figure out what a donation was not too long ago, and found out it was an industrial chicken plucker. Have you ever seen one of those, a chicken plucker?”

I arrived a few minutes before the store’s official open time, and the place was already buzzing with activity, both from shoppers and workers milling about the collection of second-hand goods.

As I began to wander about, I found that outside of the courtyard, The Second Tern’s main building is surrounded by a collection of assorted sheds.

“I think six sheds in total,” Beeson thought out loud — one labeled hardware and tools, one for sporting goods, another for furniture, and still another for seasonal goods that changes with the holidays and time of year. Still, that too could be typical of any thrift store.

But then in the midst of my wandering, Gail exclaimed, “Oh, I want you to see this!” with sudden elation. “There’s a new shed we’re starting. This is Kirby. The ski shed is his project.”

She indicated the sorting system, how they’re making a chart to explain European and American sizing. Kirby Lopez shook my hand proudly, but then quickly went about his work for the day. There are people to help, skis to price.

“Skiing is his passion,” Beeson continued, “and so this is what came of it.”

And that’s what’s so special about The Second Tern, in all of its decided practicality. It’s people using their already evident passion, people using their strengths to help other people. It’s a small thing to notice that second-hand skis aren’t just piled in a corner, but that they’re really cared for, that in taking care of a few small things, old toasters, dusty chandeliers, even the piles of Christmas lights, the volunteers at The Second Tern are also helping to take care of an entire community.