“Amidst the treasure comes the junk.Or vice versa.It’s Dave Corn’s duty to spot the difference.You got anything I can blow up or stab somebody with? asks Corn pointedly, as a donor motors up with a pickup load of items for this weekend’s Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale.Most of the stuff turns out to be acceptable – no propane tanks, for example, or useless scrap metals – and the driver rolls on through to the heart of the Woodward Middle School grounds, to drop off items that will be inspected and priced by other Rotarians and volunteers.Some things, we’re throwing straight into the dumpster for a $10 fee, said Corn, before lumbering off to inspect another vehicle in the queue.By the carload and truckload, the Woodward grounds filled up this week for the annual auction and rummage, set for 8:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 1. The already-enormous fund-raiser continues to grow, spreading out a little more through the school classrooms. Monday afternoon, the parking area was covered with the more-or-less ordered piles of sale items islanders have come to expect – furniture, garden implements, tools, household fixtures, a handful of cars, and a nice-looking speedboat.Among the volunteers tanning in the 80-degree afternoon heat was Ashley Hempelmann, 14, who spent the day wheeling hundreds of donated bicycles to a different corner of the grounds. It’s a beautiful day, and a good workout, Hempelmann said, hoping that her community involvement will look good on college applications someday.Among this year’s more interesting donations (so far):* An antique dining room set dating to the turn of the century, said to be valued at $1,500 or more, and a hefty old butcher’s block once featured in a Sunset Magazine profile of an island home (both items are live auction material);* A 1956 Ford pick-up truck, partially restored, valued at upwards of $6,000 (live auction);* A custom-made window/frame set, originally ordered, but then not used, for Microsoft president Steve Balmer’s new Whidbey Island retreat (rummage);* The pool table from the old Hall Bros. Tavern (silent auction).Inside, the selection of computers includes a number of Pentium-grade machines, numerous aging Macs, printers both laser and inkjet, and even a laptop that needed the repair skills of young volunteer Ian Weigert.After hitting it, taking it apart and pressing odd keys, it finally worked, Weigert said. Indeed, the event – the 39th in 40 years – is known as much for the arcanery of its offerings as its sheer size. This year, though, organizers say they are placing an emphasis on quality as well as quantity. Through the years, they’ve figured out what’s likely to sell, and what’s likely be ignored and later tossed at Rotary expense. This year’s out list:Worn and soiled mattresses; toilets and doors of questionable fortitude; tires; microwaves over 10 years old; single-paned windows; propane tanks; and paint (still sealed or not) and other hazardous materials subject to specific disposal guidelines.Something always slips through, as it is perhaps bound to. As a reporter watched Monday, three non-functional vacuum cleaners – including a Kirby drily observed to be older than dirt – were heaved over the side of a dumpster into oblivion.Already, Corn said, they have filled five garbage totes – 50 cubic yards each – with items deemed too crummy for resale. Tuesday morning, they closed in on a sixth – and yet the building filled up.The event can be counted on to draw a good 5,000 bargain hunters, with each year establishing a new high for sales. Last year’s take topped $136,000, with proceeds going to an array of community projects and scholarships through the Rotary’s Spend It All fund.In the arts and crafts room, awash in trinkets and ephemera, volunteer Gayle Seyl inspected a rather dour looking wooden mask of indeterminate origin and style, perhaps American Indian, perhaps South Pacific.Is this a collectible item we should value highly…, Seyl began….Or just plain ugly? finished a co-worker.It depends on who it speaks to, Rotarian Brent Olson answered.Saturday, they will find out.”