Warmer weather marks the return of citywide garage sale events
The most direct way to find a garage sale these days is probably through the “What’s Happening In …” postings on Facebook or social media marketplaces. But that’s more common for people selling one item or some higher-end things.
There was a time, however, when newspaper classifieds were the king of garage sales listings. As such, they fueled a popular sport in the Tri-Cities area (and, I am sure, other regions) known to some as “garage sale-ing.”
I was more aware of this than others because my wife was the classified ad manager at the newspaper where we both worked. She typed, organized, and laid out as many as 100 garage sale ads a week for the newspaper during the garage sale season, roughly from April through October. It was kind of like baseball.
St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia are all preparing for that season with this year’s citywide garage sale events. These basically give those who enjoy visiting garage sales on specific days the opportunity to cruise all over the place, using a map or phone app to find the sales.
Batavia’s 30th annual citywide garage sale is Friday and Saturday, May 3-4. The Batavia Fireworks Committee hosts the sale yearly to raise money for the Fourth of July fireworks show. Registration is taking place at bataviafireworks.org/home/city-wide-garage-sale/.
St. Charles kicks off its community garage sale event from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, April 19-20, for the benefit of the STC Underground Teen Center. For information about how to participate, contact Dan Procaccio at (630) 513-4322 or visit www.stcunderground.com/community-garage-sale/.
Geneva’s Chamber of Commerce will host its citywide garage sale on Friday and Saturday, April 26-27. The chamber handles all of the advertising, marketing, printing, and distribution of sales materials. Those wanting their sales included in an online map must sign up at genevachamber.com by Thursday, April 4. Those who wish to pay by cash or check can print the form on the website.
It’s slightly unusual to talk about garage sale events without a line about making a comeback from COVID. However, the pandemic didn’t necessarily derail garage sales, but people certainly were masking up and being cautious.
“We still had about 85 people sign up to be part of the garage sale event in 2020,” said Laura Rush, communications director for the Geneva Chamber of Commerce. “We usually end up with between 100 and 125 each year.”
Geneva’s chamber has hosted the garage sale event since 2012.
Garage sales remain a part of every spring, summer and fall in most parts of every city on any given weekend, whether citywide events are planned or not. In some ways, it’s just a throwback to traditions of past years.
When we lived on 14th Street in St. Charles in the 1980s, one of our neighbors was a prolific garage sale organizer. She staged at least two or three every year and came over to our house to help set up one we had.
She knew all the tricks about presenting things, then changed them periodically to showcase different items or clothes on a rack. Who knew?
It was amazing how many people came to our garage sale. I even sold a bunch of old Sports Illustrated magazines for 25 cents each. And when I thought something would be impossible to sell — like an old stand-up hair dryer that my wife’s grandmother had owned — it eventually was carted off by a new, happy owner.
Plenty of folks will be hoping for the same — finding something they want or selling things they need to clear out of the house — in the coming weekends.
Parlour part of sale
Peaceful Parlour owner Shari Ralish announced on Facebook recently that she’ll be closing her store at 212 S. Third St. at the end of April.
I spoke to Ralish about when she opened her store 15 years ago, and I sensed that her “eco-chic” boutique would have some staying power. And it had.
She now says she has been “wrestling with this for a little while” about deciding to close, but she is sure that it is “the best thing for me at this time.”
As part of her closing, she will participate in Geneva’s citywide garage sale on April 26-27, selling her store fixtures.
It shows that the citywide garage sales can also benefit businesses that are moving or closing.
Tricking our brains
If William Pack wanted to point out how our brains can play tricks on us, he picked a good way to do it—by having us watch his head “expand” right in front of our eyes.
Pack, a resident of Batavia, had a tool in hand to help create that illusion during his “Mind Games 1 — The Science of Perception Deception” presentation last week at the St. Charles Public Library.
He asked those in attendance to stare at a spinning spiral design on a hand-held motor for a minute and then shift our eyes to him. And there he was, William Pack with a pulsating head.
Pack, a professional magician, storyteller and entertainer, had plenty of other interesting things to share about how our eyes and brain connect and how things in everyday life may not always be what they seem.
Pack noted that a grocery store is a playground of perception-deception, especially when a store has a display of fresh flowers right next to its fresh produce. This makes us believe the produce is as fresh as the flowers, which is never the case.
Pack showed how a deck of cards can quickly become an illusion for observers and revealed the secret behind the trick. You’ll have to catch one of his presentations to find out.
Mostly, it was good to hear reminders about how to keep our brains in good shape. “Trying new, novel and different experiences is good for your brain,” Pack said. “Don’t do the same thing all of the time, whether going for a walk in the same place or going to the same restaurant.”
Pack noted that any activity that links intellectual skills with new physical skills is best for the brain. In that regard, he said dancing was one of the top activities to try.
Crooners and show tunes
This would take me back to my youth, with my parents’ record albums playing on a console stereo in the family room.
For others, it could be an introduction to what the music world sounded like when crooners and show tunes dominated the post-World War II years as Americans were getting established with jobs, houses and families.
It’s all there to hear when the St. Charles Public Library presents “Unforgettable! Music of the ’50s” at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 17, in the Carnegie Community Room.
Pianist Matt Gruel and vocalist Cynthia Gruel will perform the hits of the 1950s in what the library calls a “cabaret-style show.”
The Gruels have some experience with this sort of thing, performing together for more than 20 years. Cynthia Gruel is a Chicago-based actress, singer, and dancer whose work includes productions at numerous Chicago and suburban theaters, including Paramount Theatre in Aurora and Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles.
Matt Gruel is a professional composer, director, and music director. He directed the musical “The Spitfire Grill” at Steel Beam.
Those seeking more information about the free concert can visit scpld.org or call (630) 584-0076.
It’s official for this custard
I’ve mentioned a couple of times that Andy’s Frozen Custard is quite good and that area residents will be pleased one has opened at 2630 E. Main St. in St. Charles.
To make it official, Andy’s Frozen Custard has a grand opening event at 3 p.m. Friday, March 15, with treats, music and a visit from owners Andy and Dana Kuntz.
If you need any extra incentive to stop by Andy’s, the company teased us all in the news release about the grand opening by sharing some of the names of the treats.
Nutty Waffle Crunch Concrete. The Graham Jackhammer. Frozen Custard Concrete.
That sort of thing piques your interest when you already have a sweet tooth and are always on the hunt for new things.
On the sweets topic
Speaking of sweets, we are hearing that Gather Bakery, which I have written about a couple of times in the past, is preparing to open a storefront at 315 W. State St. in downtown Geneva, the site of two former bakeries—Water Bar and Sugar Path.
That could take some of the sting out of Geneva losing the Hahn’s Bakery storefront at 303 Franklin St.
• Dave Heun can be reached at dheun@sbcglobal.net.