By David Taube
Vermont Press Bureau

WATERBURY — Black Friday seemed to happen Thursday at the state office complex.

Public employees swarmed the former laundry building at the complex for a state giveaway of hundreds of items of office furniture and supplies. State workers opened the doors before the scheduled 8 a.m. time because some 20 people and trucks were lined up 30 minutes early.

Cash-strapped local officials brought dozens of pickups and even a 26-foot Penske rental truck from across the state, some coming from as far as Fairfield and Dover.

“You always need bookcases,” Thatcher Brook Primary School Principal Don Schneider said standing next to an art table he also planned to take.

“We got here at 8 and it was packed,” said Thatcher Brook art teacher MK Monley.

More than 50 people scoured the building a few minutes after 8 a.m.

The “tag sale” of surplus items began Wednesday for state agencies. The state originally planned other dates for nonprofits and the general public, but due to the turnout, officials revised that schedule Thursday.

Nonprofits can retrieve items for free from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 20; representatives of cities, towns, schools and nonprofits can return from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 27; and the general public, which can purchase items for drastically reduced prices, can visit from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 4.