The 5th Annual Big Sandy Community Yard Sale took place last Saturday, June 25th. Shoppers were greeted by two new options for sales this year. In addition to the standard yard sales throughout town, City Hall hosted a craft sale and Christ Lutheran Church put on a community rummage sale fundraiser.
Most of the folks I spoke with commented on the excellent weather for this year’s activities: A warm sunny day, but not hot. The excellent weather brought out the deal seekers. As one veteran yard saler explained, this years traffic was a mix of both locals and “a lot of out of towner traffic, too. That’s usually how it goes every year.” A steady stream of deal seekers passed through all morning and into the afternoon.
This year’s sale featured some young entrepreneurs in lemonade/snack stands. One unique addition to the young kid sales was Lauri Silvan, who sold home made sugar scrubs in various scents and colors. Her table outside of Christ Lutheran Church benefited from a lot of traffic as people visited the rummage sale. “I was expecting not to sell any, but I sold quite a bit. They’re really easy to make just sugar and oil. And anything else, as long as it doesn’t make it runny.” Lauri explained that the idea was a solution to summer boredom: “I was really bored one day and I decided just to make sugar scrub. I had an idea to sell them.” Those interested in purchasing her product can reach out to her mom, Heather Woolery in order to purchase it. My interview with Lauri was cut short as a line began to form to purchase her homemade beauty product.
The rummage sale at the Lutheran Church was organized as a fundraiser. Darlene Cline, who was helping run the sale, explained: “All the proceeds are going to Traci Rodewald. We received donated stuff to go towards that: Prairie Blossom Floral with roses, Downtown Gardens with Angel Wing begonias, the kids are outside selling lemonade, and donuts and Candi brought cinnamon rolls.”
Heather Wolery, who organized the sale, explained that the whole thing started when Samantha Weaver was unable to do her regular fundraiser event. Sam usually runs a lemonade stand to raise money for Gift of Life or some other organization. With the fundraising vacuum, Heather approached Sam and asked if it would be ok to do a fundraiser specifically for Traci. Heather was positive about the response: “I think there’s already been a great response. I mean, there’s way more here at the church. I already had donations before we had this stuff.” In addition, locals have made financial donations as well, starting before the sale and continuing throughout the Saturday event. If you are interested in donating to Traci Rodewald and couldn’t make it to the yard sale you can mail it to the Lutheran Church at PO Box 407 Big Sandy, MT 59520. Make sure to label it as being for Traci. Or you can drop off donations at the Big Sandy Library.
The craft sale downtown at City Hall had a variety of vendors selling everything from spicy mustard relish to lotions, to stickers, to jewelry. A local vender, who was very positive about the first community garage sale’s addition of a craft show remarked: “We have lots of vendors. Everything here is handmade and people are great.” Traffic started early and was steady according to a young lady I spoke with from Havre, who was selling jewelry at her booth. It was her first sale in Big Sandy, though she has sold her jewelry as far as Helena. She remarked on how friendly the locals were and that she had done decent business already that morning, despite the fact that it was still early in the day.
Keeley Bahnmiller, who organizes the sale every year, summed the day up well: “ We had about 25 people sign up to do yard sales this year and we also added a Craft Show this year, which a fun added element to give our local crafters a space to sell their goods. Boosting the local economy and bringing our community together are why I continue to organize the sale each year. I’m told by those who held sales that attendance was good and lots of junk was exchanged! I am thankful for another successful year to be in the books!”
