It will be a first Saturday, May 3rd in Altona, with the community having its first town wide garage sale. It's being organized by Tina Schmidt, Richard Bage and Marty Falk, three well known collectible and antique enthusiasts in the community.
"I was approached last year to put this together and organize it, and I kind of didn't really have the time to do so," explained Schmidt. "I mentioned to Marty and Richard that somebody had suggested it, and I didn't have the time. I think it was Richard who was 'Hey, what if we did it all together?' and then that made perfect sense, because now all of a sudden there was more time."
Significant response to register sales
The trio has been pleasantly surprised by the response so far, with more than sixty homes having registered.
"The response has been fantastic," said Bage. "One of the things about doing something for the first time is you never quite know is this something people are going to get excited about. You never know what you're going to find. I've gone to thrift stores in town, and you see something on a shelf, and it's like, 'You mean this was here in this community all along, and I never knew about it?' So yeah, I think part of the the fun and the excitement is just the unknown."
To help plan your day and treasure hunt, Falk is taking the lead in creating a Google map highlighting the registered locations.
"People have been sending me their addresses, and so after April 30th which is our deadline for registering for the event, I will send out a link to the Google map which will have all of the addresses for the garage sales on there," he said.
Online and hard copy maps will be available
Hard copies of the map will also be available at Hometown Heritage, for those who would prefer a paper version.
"There are a lot of people who are a little bit scared to have a garage sale," said Schmidt. "Maybe they've never done one, or if they have, they didn't like it. It's a lot of work, if we're being honest. In this kind of situation, where this many people are doing it, I think it makes it easier for you also to have one and to put out things. Maybe you normally wouldn't have, or that stuff was going to be going to the thrift store, but if you can make a couple of bucks, fantastic! Then, for those of us who enjoy the thrill of the hunt, you never know what you're going to find. It's like a treasure hunt."
The first Altona Townwide Garage Sale will take place Saturday from 9am to 3pm. Schmidt noted, participants can absolutely set up Friday evening if they choose, but the official start will be Saturday morning.
What's better than one sale? Two!
Meanwhile, Plum Coulee is also hosting its annual Townwide Garage Sale Saturday, and Bage hopes you check out both.
"The only thing better than a town wide garage sale are two town wide garage sales," he said with a smile. "You get to have two town wide garage sales on the same day within a 10 to 15 minute drive of each other. Our hope is those of you that love garage-saleing, love treasure hunting, love looking for deals, don't just go to Altona, don't just go to Plum Coulee, make a day of it and check out both."
Listen to our conversation with Tina Schmidt, Richard Bage and Marty Falk, below.