Lakeport Cluster Garage Sale

By Sharon Corriveau, Garage Sale Organizer

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Lakeport Cluster Garage Sale. I believe the consensus is that it was a fun time and a great success, and it was pretty simple to put together. I started by asking the Lakeport Cluster Board if this was something they thought was a good idea and whether they could help. The board was very helpful in getting a neighborhood-wide email out to ask who might be interested and also getting cooperation about parking. After gathering names of who wanted to participate, we moved on to identifying what day would work for everyone and where to advertise. I received great ideas for advertising from various folks, along with “how to host a garage sale” websites. I made some signs and put them at strategic spots and arranged for the charitable group “Purple Heart” to pick up our leftovers when the sale was over. We were blessed with perfect weather and a good turnout! We even had some creative kids selling snacks and juice!  

The most positive feedback I received from neighbors was the opportunity to be able to be out and about meeting neighbors. We all spend most of our time inside or out back, so this event became a great opportunity to be on our “front porches.” Perhaps we can do this again in the future, and someone also had the idea of a neighborhood block party. We could all feature a food and drink station in our driveways and have a Lakeport “Taste of the Cluster”!  

I asked for feedback to share in this article and here are some of the neighborhood thoughts on the yard sale that I received via email.

Karen Cook wrote: When Lakeport decided to hold a community yard sale, I was instantly excited. Having never been to a garage sale, much less participated in one, I was a bit slow to put all of the pieces together. The idea seems straightforward but there were some key considerations: pricing, timing, display, bags, and making change all needed to be thought through. Thankfully Sharon Corriveau, who had essentially hosted the idea from beginning to end, helped the rest of us get on track and stay on track and was an enormous help to me. Having been through my first sale, I would certainly consider it again. It was a great way to de-clutter and have an opportunity to meet and greet neighbors. I didn’t make my fortune but it was a worthwhile experience.

Susan Hartwig wrote: Hi Sharon. Again, many thanks for organizing this for all of us. My favorite story of the day was witnessing the generosity and kindness of the Purple Heart driver who picked up all our items that we wanted to donate after the sale. I had a very heavy sleeper sofa that finally sold at the very end of the day. It was purchased by a man and woman who were about to try to lift it into a pickup truck. The driver from Purple Heart had just pulled up to pick up his donations (a few light boxes) when he saw the task at hand and offered to help get the sofa into the pick-up truck. Without him, I doubt that we would've made that happen. Such a great way to end the day. Uplifting (sorry couldn't resist ☺) Again, many thanks for organizing.

Annabelle Hammer wrote: I sold a quilt for $75, so I consider the yard sale a success for me! A lady was on her daily walk when she saw a quilt she liked. She put a $20 deposit (all she had at the time), went back home, and returned with more cash a couple of hours later. So that worked out well.

 Pros:

1. It was nice to meet neighbors I hadn’t met before and catch up with the ones I already know.
2. My former hairdresser in Sterling came by. I didn’t know she lived near Sunrise Valley Elementary. It was such a great surprise to reconnect with her!

Lessons learned (as a newbie):

1. I didn’t realize people wouldn’t be bringing a lot of cash or checkbooks for items costing more than a few dollars.

2. Next time I will sell small, inexpensive items.

Thanks again for organizing the yard sale… and for gathering our thoughts for Ripples.

James Pan wrote: Thank you so much for organizing. I also love earning pocket change and clearing out space. We cleared over $300!! More importantly my wife now has more storage racks. I love the whole community energy and hanging out with the neighbors.  Thank you once again for the all the hard work that went into organizing.

Diane Zoukis wrote:  It was my first participation in a community event since moving here three years ago! It was nice meeting neighbors from Lakeport and those that came from surrounding neighborhoods to shop our sale! Some of us bonded over "yard sale mimosas"!! From what I heard on the street, the yard sale participants were successful in finding new homes for most of their treasures! Those unwanted items were promptly picked up by Purple Heart after the event. How convenient was that??!!! Maybe a community block party is next??!! Many thanks again, Sharon, for all you did to organize a successful event!  

Susan Kilcup sent pictures (including the one at the top of her guard dog making sure no one took any items without paying!):