Annual villagewide garage sale a social affair in Mount Prospect
Mount Prospect's longtime villagewide garage sale has become more than an opportunity for residents to make a little cash over one weekend in May.
For West Gregory Street resident Aaron Parks and others, the garage sale is a social affair.
"You see some of the same people every year, so that's kind of fun," Parks said Saturday near tables that included treasures such as a Kentucky Derby glass and the game Boggle Bowl. "I just kind of enjoy sitting out and seeing people. You know, that's kind of what I do it for."
Organizers expected about 500 homes to participate in the group garage sale from Friday through today. Picket Fence Realty's Mount Prospect office, on the suggestion of a woman who read the company's newsletter sent to village residents, launched the sale in 1993.
Clusters of garage sales feed off each other in several neighborhoods, including an area near Elmhurst and Kensington roads.
Wille Street resident Kathleen O'Connell joked that it's more of a "haggle sale." She said she typically sets her prices 5 or 10 percent higher than what she wants for an item with the expectation her customers will try to talk her down by that much.
O'Connell said the social aspect for the garage sale is fun. She visits other sales and has been known to meet someone new in the neighborhood.
"Just kind of seeing what other people think is junk and other people think is treasures," O'Connell said. "You know, you go to somebody's house and they're like, 'Get it out of here, it's a quarter,' but to you, you would have paid 20 bucks for it.
"And especially here, this neighborhood, this subdivision, it's very tight. It's like all the neighbors know each other and watch out for each other."
On Wille just south of Kensington, Tony and Sherri DeRicco and their son, Joe, worked the garage sale at their house, which was festooned with flags hanging over the front lawn. Sherri DeRicco said the sale allows the family to declutter the home.
"We did get to meet new neighbors that just moved in two doors down, so that was nice," Sherri DeRicco said. "She came by (Friday)."
Among the benefits of being part of Mount Prospect's group sale are advertising, distribution of 10,000 maps, a website and more handled by Picket Fence.
Other group garage sales this weekend in the Northwest suburbs included one in the Terramere subdivision in far north Arlington Heights.