It is a spring tradition and this year it's on Tuesday, April 13.

Announcing the annual "Intake Day," when volunteers from the Essex Auxiliary of Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut (CFASC) will be waiting to receive donated items (all in good condition, please) to be carefully sorted, packed, and taken to Groton where they will become a part of "The Largest Tag Sale in New England."

The 56th annual tag sale, which raises funds for the Child & Family Agency, will be held Thursday, April 15 through Sunday April 18 in the Grasso Technical School gymnasium at 189 Fort Hill Road, Groton.

Much of the success of this important fundraising event is due to the caliber and condition of items that are brought in to the collection centers from the towns along the Connecticut shoreline. In Essex, the collection will be Tuesday, April 13. Donations will be accepted at the Essex Town Hall on West Avenue between

10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Please use the Grove Street parking lot entrance in the rear of the building. Volunteers will be standing by all day to greet donors.

Now is the time to donate all the items you discovered during that spring cleaning foray in the garage, in the basement and the barn, in attics and lofts, in those forgotten places, in trunks and tins and closet spaces. Bring tools, an antique dish, or a CD by Phish. Bring sporting goods, small (working) appliances, toys and books, and clean clothing still in fashion (unless vintage is your passion). Just remember-please bring the best and leave the rest.

For large items in good condition that are too big to carry or cart, contact an auxiliary member to arrange for assistance. Special, high-value collectibles in the category of jewelry and artwork will be professionally appraised and handled with care and donation receipts will be available for tax purposes.

More than 13,000 children and their families in Middlesex and New London counties were served in the past year by CFASC, a private, non-profit charitable organization. Programs deal with child-abuse prevention, the treatment of family violence,

teen pregnancy, children's health care, childcare, parent education, and children's mental health. Its child care and out-of-school programs benefit from

volunteers who read one-on-one with children; share a hobby, athletic skill, or special talent with a classroom; are homework buddies; or help create the sets and costumes for the group's theater productions. For more information, call 860-443-2896 or visit www.cfapress.org.