Still going strong after 30 years, it was another successful City Wide Yard Sale in Escalon, with multiple sales staged on Saturday, Oct. 3.
From one end of the community to the other, people hauled everything from books and clothes to furniture and knick knacks out of their closets, garages, storage sheds and probably even a few bookshelves, to offer them for sale. And buyers came from both in and outside the city, many making an annual trek to Escalon to take in the event and shop for bargains.
Residents Jon and Mallory Reed said they have made a few moves over the years and have always brought their ‘stuff’ with them. The sale was a perfect way to put sell off some stuff in hopes of not having to pack it all up when they move again.
A few hours into the sale, which ran officially from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Mallory said they had sold a fair amount of merchandise.
“This is our first year hosting one and I’m glad we’re positioned where we are at the end of a court, everyone sees our house on the way down the court but I’m sorry for everyone looking for parking,” the Tamara Court resident noted, chuckling. “We really wanted to purge a lot that we have moved with over the years.”
She added that putting out the various items, she wasn’t sure what would draw people’s attention.
“Everyone has been gravitating toward the silverware but there’s just different generations of dishes and knick knacks that has accumulated,” she added. “The kitchen things have been a hit, that’s where everyone is looking, I sold a bunch of utensils and I wasn’t expecting that.”
In the Sophie Lane and Swanson Drive area, resident Dana Bradley was seeing a steady stream of customers.
“We try to do it every year, it’s just that this time we are a little more organized instead of just throwing it all out in the morning,” Bradley explained. “It’s great, it’s a great way to meet your neighbors too so it has been a lot of fun getting to see some of the people that you usually just kind of drive by. It’s nice to talk with them a bit.”
Recently married, Bradley said they did put a lot of leftover wedding decorations out and those seemed to “be a hot commodity” as well as various pieces of furniture. “And despite the heat, there’s actually quite a few people.”
Over at the corner of California and Riesling, Brittany Sturgeon of Calaveras County was grateful to have family in the area so she could set up her sale.
“So far it has been a pretty decent day, we did this last and I would say it was a little busier last year,” Sturgeon said, with temperatures rising quickly on this year’s yard sale day. “Otherwise it’s going really well, everyone has been nice.”
For shopper Julie Williams, who was raised in Escalon and now lives in Modesto, she said making the quick trip to Escalon on the first Saturday of October is a must.
“My friends and I come every year, we find great deals and it’s a fun event, we make a day of it,” Williams said, adding that she doesn’t come with a list of what she hopes to find. “It’s very random and at the end of the day we always see who got the best deal and … who made a drunken purchase.”
She and her friends had filled the bed of a pick-up truck before noon, with everything from patio furniture to holiday decorations ready to go to a new home.
Williams also said she typically brings a cowbell to ring when it is time for the group of friends to move on to another sale location, a cowbell that she said those friends complained about loudly this year.
But, as luck would have it, she found a pair of small cowbell earrings at one sale, quickly buying them and putting them on. That way, she said, she could just shake her head when it was time to go and be less offensive to her friends.
All in all, Williams said, it was another great day of bargain shopping.
“It’s so much fun; we love it,” she said.
