You know spring is here. The garage sale season has begun in earnest with very good Saturday turnouts. It’s a good chance to chat with people and joke about the economy. I’ve been attending these events long enough to sometimes see what I myself sold years ago at someone else’s garage sale! Local charities and causes take the opportunity to do some spring cleaning and raise money for their cause. On an island garage sales are a little different. You often hear, “Yes! Just what I was looking for!” Although the island stores carry most products, a garage sale lucky find can avoid the trip off to the mainland for the purchase of a specific unavailable item.

Recent sales for the Senior Class and for the Boaters were held in larger venues than your typical garage sale, where many years worth of accumulations were visible at one stop. At the school gym the senior parents were convincing in their persuasive efforts to shoppers, motivated by the knowledge that they would have to dispose of everything when the sale was over before school commenced on Monday. At the fairgrounds there were even boats for sale as well as other nautical items. Prices seemed high at many of the booths, as the vendors had their table rental costs to cover. I believe most of the vendors had fun trading with each other, though, and the baked goods were going fast as people walked around with their mugs of coffee, joking with each other. The Saturday scroungers are my private appellation for the garage sale fans. I feel lucky to live somewhere that really does care about recycling, where the person next to you at a tag sale may be a millionaire or just your average Joe, looking for a glimpse into the past or an idea for the future.