Neighborly Commerce

___

Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day! The old childhood chant echoed through the hollows of my memory in the days leading up to our Community Garage Sale weekend, as it rained every day. We’re always primed to say, “Well, we need the moisture” but sometimes we can be a little particular as to how and when it’s delivered. As it turned out, Friday started pretty clear and there were a few showers in the afternoon but they were over quickly. Our event organizer Marci DeMott was upbeat in her response to the situation, as we found other neighbors were as well. “It was nothing that a couple plastic table cloths couldn’t handle,” she told us. Then Saturday was clear and bright, even better for garage-sales. Overall, we think it was a win.  

When my wife and I found the Southern Gables neighborhood almost 20 years ago and went to see the house we ended up buying, the sellers were holding a garage sale in preparation for their move. We noticed there were lots of garage sales, with so many people going from one to another. It seemed like the neighborhood was buzzing with activity. “What is this, is everybody selling out and moving at the same time?” Someone told me it was a coordinated garage sale weekend, so everyone would benefit from attracting more buyers. There was a neighborhood association that organized it. I remember thinking, “Smart! Wow, this neighborhood really has it together!” 

I went around to lots of the sales at our Community Garage Sale this year – there were 26 signed up, and 5 or 6 joined in the event as pop-ups – and did a lot of admiring and some buying. It’s funny how someone else’s personal memorabilia can bring back one’s own personal memories, like strangers meeting for the first time and each having the feeling of already knowing the other.

Picnic kit with plates & glasses, utensils, corkscrew, cutting board, napkins, salt & pepper, blanket and wine bottle holder.

I remember a picnic in a mountain valley with my fiancée, with “a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou” from ages past. We haven’t been on a picnic in years, just the two of us. It’s a soft warm memory that came back like a snippet of a dream, at – of all places – a garage sale. I know you don’t really need a picnic backpack with plates and all the accessories to have a picnic, but as garage sale shoppers everywhere say when some unexpected little thing fills a little forgotten wish or need, or as in this case revives a pleasant dream, Why not?

Marci DeMott, who was the person taking sale notifications and getting them together for the map we made, had several households joining forces at her own garage sale, to find gently used items new homes. They all had a great time meeting new shoppers, she told us, visiting with neighbors and welcoming repeat customers from past years. “Friday was National Donut Day so we had donuts and water to share with our shoppers. I don’t feel like it was as busy as years past but we were still excited to hand out the maps and visit with our shoppers.” Though the map that we provided in our online ads for the weekend could be used from a phone or tablet, the printed copies were very popular. 

Our neighbor Julia Blair was one of the sellers at Marci’s location. It was her third year there and she said that it was great entertainment. “Pleasant shoppers, canines and bikes in abundance, neighborliness at its best.” The most popular attraction in Julia’s sale was her 25¢ table, keeping kids and adults alike engaged in sorting through all kinds of trinkets and treasures. Julia observed, “Kindness is Contagious!” 

On Evans Place I found Jeff Jackmond watching over a splendid collection of goods, so well displayed that it must have taken hours to curate and set up. That was where I found the picnic kit. Linda told me later, they were glad they participated in the Community Garage Sale. Friday was a bit slower with the weather not cooperating, but they loved the people they met and they got to sell some things that people needed. A good part of the event was sharing stories with people who came by. Linda said, “Thanks for having the map that people could find us.” They had some from Wheatridge and some came by after shopping at our local farmers market – the Fleischer Family Farm.

Over on Warren Drive, Mike Branigan said he and Nancy were glad for the promotion of the sale, and that they had great success with great traffic and perfect weather. They were giving out doughnuts too. He said they “got to meet many interesting neighbors and cleansed our closets of unneeded clutter! Good job everyone! Signage was great and we had fun!” 

I think we all did. Some pictures… 

Subscribe to get an email notice when our weekly articles are published.