The sometimes staggering costs faced by new and expecting parents can be difficult, but the Invermere Moms Facebook group will be helping to ease the pain.

The club is set to host the fourth annual Big Mama Sale and Swap at the Invermere Community Hall this Saturday, April 6th.

The sale runs from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m., and an early bird option is available for the true bargain hunters. Premature shoppers can pay $5 for admission at 9 a.m., rather than $2 after 9:30 a.m., and browse the goods exclusively before the sale opens to the public.

“You get first pick on anything in the sale,” said event organizer Dee Connell. “So for the first thirty minutes, you get the best of the best.”

The annual event was first brought to a physical location after local moms began virtually trading baby goods online.

“It’s all based on the Invermere Moms Buy and Swap, which is a Facebook page,” Mrs. Connell said. “We were doing so much buying and selling as new moms, that we decided to get all our stuff together in one spot and just do it.”

The sale will offer goods for new and expecting moms, as well as children under age 10, with a strong emphasis on baby products. Nearly 20 vendors from Canal Flats to Brisco will be at the community hall. One of the vendors is the Monkey’s Uncle toy store, which donated “an incredible amount of goods” to the sale, said Mrs. Connell.

“It’s hard and fast,” she said. “People come in and shop fast. By noon, everyone wants to go home and play with their kids.”

The event is held in association with the Windermere Valley Play Association, a non-profit group which makes life easier for new parents.

“Originally, that’s one of the reasons we started to raise money — so we could buy snacks and stuff for the play group.”