One of the event’s goals was the exchange of pleasantries.
About 500 shoppers picked up maps Sunday from SNA in what one participant called “the best yard sale I ever had.”
“I’m almost wiped out,” said one seller on Colonial Road about noon, midway between the 10 a.m.-to-2 p.m. limits. She added that she would definitely “do it again.”
But the main ideas was to exchange treasures.
She was talking about SNA’s annual neighborhood-wide yard sale. Sellers paid a fee to get on the organization’s list and map, then put out their treasures on their own front lawns, although one operated out of a garage that faced the street. There were 19 locations plus several who chose to bring their goods to the parking lot of Citizens Bank on Hope Street where SNA had a booth to hand out the maps. Sellers could also stop by to get balloons supplied by the Hope Street toy store Henry Bear’s Park.
Prospective buyers picked up maps at the SNA booth at Citizens Bank parking lot.
Buyers with maps in hand then proceeded around the neighborhood to find the promised bargains. Some stores on Hope Street also put out merchandise in sidewalk sales.
But besides the exchange of household treasures, the exchange of neighbor-to-neighbor pleasantries was a major goal of the yard-sale system. It aimed to promote face-to-face meetings of people in Summit, and according to Anne Holland, the member of the SNA board of directors who organized this year’s event, even people from outside the neighborhood, including Congressman David Cicilline and City Councilor Nirva LaFortune, seized the opportunity.
One seller said it was the best yard sale she had ever had.
