At this annual swap meet in Ashland, it’s far more interesting to give than to receive

Karen Schneider was given a beautiful silver bracelet by a group of women she took on a trip to the Panama rainforest. She will give it to a stranger.

"If I’m not wearing it, it’s time to give it away," she says.

So it goes at the Abundance Swap. There’s no quid pro quo.

This is not your usual exchange, in which people offer one item in return for another, and both parties expect to receive something of equal value. The idea here is for each person to freely offer something he’s brought, then take something somebody else offers in the same spirit and give it away later.

Jeanette Blankenship of Eagle Point brought an art print, a portrait study of three old women.

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"I’ve lived with it a long time," she says. "It’s time to let somebody else enjoy it."

Jay Lancaster of White City brought laser-etched crystals. A dragon appears to be carved out on the inside of a crystal, but there is no scarring or evidence of work on the face of the crystal.

"I thought people would enjoy them," he says.

The Abundance Swap started two years ago when Jeff Golden, who hosts the Jefferson Exchange on Jefferson Public Radio, found himself delivering a 10-minute, on-air monologue about consumption and values. It was "Ain’t It Awful Radio," he says.

But then he added a story about some people who’d declared Buy Nothing Day as a reaction to the hordes camping at malls to elbow their way to the hottest bargains the day after Thanksgiving. He wondered aloud if there weren’t some way to challenge frenzied consumerism while at the same time honoring the spirit of giving long associated with the season.

Voila! The Abundance Swap. There are only two basic rules. One, bring some things to give that you’d like to receive. Two, take some things away that you’d like to give to somebody else.

This year’s event is being held on the first Saturday of December in the back of the First United Methodist Church of Ashland. Organizers have put a little more structure in place.

"We looked at our intentions and tried to think how we could create new shared values," Debrah Harrison says.

Part of the idea is to put into circulation beautiful or useful things that the owners have quit using in a nation that has 5 percent of the Earth’s population and accounts for 40 percent of the planet’s consumption.

Participants get red or green name tags. People are encouraged to meet others they don’t know and talk about giving. There are times for people to choose things others have brought, and times for them to stand with the things they’ve brought and placed on the tables filling the room.

It’s not cool to shop and run. Everybody is asked to stay until the event is over.

People have brought candles, artwork, clothing, pots and pans, jewelry, tire chains, stereo components, books, a TV set and much, much more.

The event is not widely publicized. Golden says that’s not because it’s trying to be elitist but because it’s aimed at people who understand what it’s about.

Virginia Farr of Ashland is returning for a second year.

"It’s so much fun to see people watch who takes their gift," she says.

She says she sent a newspaper story about last year’s event to friends in Florida and Wisconsin, and they’ve started similar events.

Golden says he’s heard of maybe 20 Abundance Swaps starting up around the country in the past year or two.

"I just like the flow of abundance," says Gaelyn Larrick, who brought a native shield from Tanzania.

Some say they have to learn to give stuff away. For others, the learning may be in receiving.

"If you feel abundant," Golden says, "you’re probably doing it right."

For more, visit www.abundanceswap.org.

Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail bvarble@mailtribune.com