MAY 24, 2018 // 11
heck out of it. “It’s impossible to keep
track of how many shoppers and ven-
dors participate, but it’s grown to be
an outrageously fun event with steals
and deals around every corner,” its
volunteers say.
Sellers and buyers alike hope for
good weather through the weekend,
not too hot, but with none of those
pesky rain showers that spoil the fun.
And hotels and restaurants love it
because it fills their establishments
with visitors who are happily loading
up their cars and trucks with bargains
that they’ll haul home.
As the Visitors Bureau says, “One
person’s trash is another person’s
treasure.”
years’ worth of merchandise. And there
was plenty of it: wicker furniture, pots
and pans, artwork, tools, a Zodiac boat
and motor, clam shovels — you name
it, we had it.
“After three days, we had sold the
bulk of the goods, meeting lots of love-
ly bargain hunters in the process.”
Bargain hunters
Shoppers sometimes re-sell items
for a significant profit.
Paula Frazer Owens recalls
picking up a canning jar full of pens
and pencils. “We went through them
— most were very old — and found
a Meisterstuck fountain pen,” she
said. “It sold on eBay that night for
$299 — the best bargain ever. The
jar was free, they threw it in with
our other purchases.”
A similar thing happened to Debo-
rah Justice Cutrell of Raymond, Wash.,
who said she “can’t wait for the ‘big
weekend.’”
“We found an engraved retirement
bowl and were told it was silver plat-
ed,” she said. “We got home and found
out it was solid silver. Paid $6 for it,
sold it for $380.”
Miriam Sheaffer of Long Beach,
a 40-year Peninsula resident, recalls
picking up a free box of vintage Christ-
mas ornaments. “I kept two for myself,
sold the other box for $20,” she said.
Of course, avid bargain hunters do
run out of space. “Probably not going
this year,” Sheaffer said. “I’m at the
point now that I’m trying to scale back,
not add to my collections — but I’ve
had a lot of fun in the past.”
But Donna Raabe Price of Auburn,
Wash., a part-time resident of Ocean
Park for 17 years, is excited. “I have
snagged some really sweet deals over
the years,” she said.
“Last year, my husband snagged a
brand new Lodge cast-iron Dutch oven
for $5,” she said. “Hoping to score
more goodies this year.”
For Longview, Wash., resident,
Katie Vincent-Sanderson, setting up
her weekend sale is an annual pleasure
at her mid-Peninsula beach house.
“We’ve never shopped, we are
always busy selling and enjoying all of
the people we get to talk to,” she said.
“My son and niece always have
cookies for sale and people are always
so generous and they sell so many. It’s
our favorite event of the year.” CW
Garage Sale
Handy purchases
Picking up true bargains at this Me-
morial Day Weekend event or at other
sales involves luck.
Some 10 years ago, Bonnie Lou
Cozby of Ocean Park attended an
estate sale in Surfside.
“They had grouped many of the
items into boxes that were sold as
lots,” she said. “One box I purchased
had books — old books. There were
several ‘Who’s Who’-type books from
California that were pre-1900. But the
gem was a first edition, 1884, book by
John G. Bourke called ‘The Moquis of
Arizona.’”
Bourke was a colonel in the U.S.
Army who chronicled the lifestyles
of Native Americans in Arizona, later
becoming a prominent anthropologist.
“The book is in fair to good condition
and worth in the range of $600,” Coz-
by said. “I bought the box for $1.”
At the same sale, there were
hand-tinted photographs of California
from around 1930. “I bought the three
for $1 each. These were my top finds
over the last 24 years of garage and es-
tate sales on the Peninsula,” she added.
She is not alone. Last year, Cheryl
Marie Newman bought a 1952 Singer
Featherweight sewing machine. “I sew
with it all the time,” she said.
Marilyn Raymer has lived in Surf-
side 12 years. She is especially proud
of one handy purchase. “An enameled
pot with a strainer inset, the perfect
size to use for removing clam shells
with boiling water,” she said. “Prob-
ably intended for spaghetti — it cost
me $1.”
Portland visitor Margot Moore-Wil-
COURTESY BONNIE LOU COZBY
Bonnie Lou Cozby cleverly bought some
boxed lots at an estate sale in Surfside.
One $1 bargain box of old books in-
cluded an 1884 first edition by John G.
Bourke called “The Moquis of Arizona.”
Bourke, a U.S. Army colonel, studied Na-
tive Americans in Arizona. Cozby said
her book is in fair to good condition and
worth about $600.
evenT will offer 28 miles of bargains from may 25-27
son’s favorite find was some dental
hygienist’s tools. “These are perfect for
scrapbooking and other paper crafts,”
she said.
Ilmari Kivinen of Vancouver,
Wash., visited the Peninsula almost
every weekend when growing up.
Kivinen’s best buy was a 1940s “plein
air” oil painting for only $25.
Some treasures come with a back-
story. Mary Rickie Daniels bought an
antique gentlemen’s dresser for $175,
which she describes as “gorgeous.”
“The owner told us how it had been
handed down through the generations,”
she said.
Finding treasures
Sellers know that tools in good con-
dition will always find a buyer.
Jackie Sheldon of Ilwaco has a pas-
sion for emergency preparedness.
“The World’s Longest Garage Sale
is a great time to pick up emergency
supplies” she said. “I look for saws,
axes, hammers, pry bars, blankets,
life jackets, rope, camping stuff and
containers.
I put supplies in my attic in case
I have to ‘go vertical’ for an evacua-
COURTESY MARY RICKIE DANIELS
Mary Rickie Daniels bought this antique
gentlemen’s dresser for just $175. The
seller mentioned it had been handed
down through several generations.
tion.”
Sheldon mentioned that during
the devastation caused by Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, many Louisiana resi-
dents climbed into their attics to escape
flood waters. “However, they got stuck
there, with no supplies to escape to the
roof. Therefore, emergency supplies
in the attic is a must for emergency
preparedness,” she said.
A prior seller, Robert Johnson,
benefited greatly. “It is a great way
to get rid of those items that you just
don’t seem to use anymore — I highly
recommend it,” he said.
The Seattle resident’s parents, Bob
and Boots Johnson, bought their first
Peninsula property in Seaview in 1964
and retired to a nearby locale in 1986.
After they died in the early 2000s, he
scheduled an estate sale during Memo-
rial Day.
“In one weekend, I sold the bulk of
the estate and put close to $6,000 in
my pocket — and had fun doing it,”
he said.
“I didn’t have to advertise; hundreds
of garage sale enthusiasts were already
fully aware of the chance to find plenty
of treasures. I just had to organize 40