Reading, Giving Back and Reaching Back at the Harvesfest Book Sale

Inma Korte has been coming to 's book fair since its inception. The woman infamously know as "The Cookbook Lady" comes out every year for one item: cookbooks.

“I just love to cook for my daughter and grandchild," she said. “I mostly find all my books here, but I also go to garage sales."

Korte is the "Godmother" of the book sale. She arrived at the . And on Saturday's rainy morning, you couldn't talk to anyone at the sale without hearing about "The Cookbook Lady."

Book sale co-chair Karen Rahmberg said all proceeds go to to the Hazelwood Community Enrichment Commission's program, the purchase of newspaper and magazine subscriptions for and to provide resources for the Hazelwood Garden Club.

Book sale chair Steve Rahmberg, who is married to Karen, said the organization’s foundational purpose is to nourish the community's love for reading while financially giving back to it through donating profits from reselling books at 25 and 50 cents. These prices have never increased, the Rahmbergs said.

the commission hosts during the summer months, proceeds also benefit commission events such as the . All titles are welcome but, Karen said some things can't be sold because of an influx in inventory.

"We don’t accept comic books, National Geographic magazines or school text books," she said. "We just get too many.”

Although nothing rare or antique has been discovered, Steve Rahmberg said a collection of books written in German was donated, which were promptly purchased the moment they hit the sales floor.

Last year, the commisson received about $1,100 from Harvestfest book sales. Karen said the commission anticipates $800 this year, some of which will come from Korte who, without fail, was found in the cookbook section collecting her annual supply. At final count, Korte had 20 books to purchase.