West Seattle, Washington
11 Monday
On the brink of 100 sales signed up now for the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – schools, churches, estate sales, block sales, private homes, the “group sites” at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and C & P Coffee, a great mix. Registration deadline is next Saturday night – get your online registration in by 11:59 pm Saturday, or make sure your mail-in form gets to us by Saturday’s delivery (so mailing it no later than Thursday is a good idea) – The Big Day, with sales all over West Seattle is 9 am-3 pm, Saturday, May 9th, and the map will be available earlier than ever this year (starting with distribution at the WSB table at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival [WSB sponsor *and* we’re a festival co-sponsor] Sunday 5/3 in The Junction). Want to register, or just find out more? The official Garage Sale Day site is westseattlegaragesale.com (you can browse the site for coverage of last year, too, to get a taste of what it’s about and how it went).
With the recent bursts of sunshine and warmth, thoughts turn to spring cleaning, among other things, and what better way, than to have a garage sale … and to invite the entire region to come buy your stuff. Nine days left to sign up to be part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day — one peninsula, many sales (almost 150 last year) — on Saturday, May 9th. More than 80 sales are registered so far – we didn’t have that many last year till four days before the close of registration (admittedly, we stretched out the registration period this year, so we had more time to get the word out). Plenty of room on the map for more. And as promised, the map will be out earlier, so you have more time to plot your shopping strategy if you’re NOT having a sale – we’ll have it available starting Sunday 5/3 at our table at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival (WSB sponsor) – and more time to send it around to everyone you know if you ARE having a sale. If you don’t have enough room for one of your own, check with Lora at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) or Cameron at C & P Coffee, both of whom are offering courtyard space, first-come first-served and they’ve already been making reservations … also be thinking about the contests, “Most Creative Sign,” “Most Unusual Item Bought” and “Most Unusual Item Sold” (here’s the report on last year’s winners). Registration deadline is 11:59 pm Saturday 4/25 – sign up online here, or go here to print out a mail-in form, or pick up a preprinted form at Hotwire, Illusions Hair Design, Stor-More Self Storage, Brunette Mix (all four are WSB sponsors), Delridge and Southwest Library branches, or the Senior Center of West Seattle. So far, we have school sales, church sales, block sales, estate sales, individual sales – add yours to the mix, and watch the official site at westseattlegaragesale.com for updates!
As registration rolls on for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (coming up Saturday 5/9 – be part of The Big Map and regional promotion! – get in on the fun at westseattlegaragesale.com, 11 days left to register), we just got word of another big church sale, starting this Friday, and they’re still looking for donations: St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church (next to West Seattle High School) has its rummage sale this Friday-Saturday, April 17-18, and again the following Friday-Saturday, 4/24-4/25, 9 am-3 pm all four days. Got something to donate? Call the church at 937-4545. (This Saturday — one day only — also features a big sale and car wash at Alki Community Center; call ACC at 684-7430 for the scoop.) Never mind the wintry weather (sunbreak as we type, actually) – it’s time for spring cleaning – and sale season!
4 weeks from today — Saturday, May 9 — it’s the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, not one big sale but rather MANY sales, some big, some not-so-big, all over the peninsula, 9 am-3 pm. Here at WSB, it’s our second year coordinating the big event, and we have some updates for you:
REGISTRATION: By request, we expanded the registration period from 2 weeks to 3 weeks this year. The first week is now over, and we’ve got 60 sales on the list so far – last year set a record at almost 150 – can we beat it this year? This is the FIRST major Garage Sale Day in the city this year, since Greenwood has moved its event to fall. Three ways to sign up: Register and pay online (go here); print out the form (go here) and postal-mail it; or pick up a pre-printed mail-in form at Hotwire Coffee, Illusions Hair Design, Stor-More Self-Storage, and Brunette Mix (all 4 are WSB sponsors) or at one of these two Seattle Public Library branches, West Seattle (Admiral) and Southwest (35th/Henderson). Deadline for us to receive registrations is Saturday night 4/25 — we’re making the map available earlier this year (the very first copies will be available at our table at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival on 5/3), so we really need everything in by deadline.
WHAT TO DO WITH ANYTHING LEFT OVER: It’s official – Northwest Center will partner with West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day again this year. That means the dropoff spot in The Junction (44th/Edmunds) will stay open later than usual on Sale Day itself, or you’ll be able to book a Big Blue Truck pickup online for AFTER Sale Day, once you know how much you need to donate. (NW Center welcomes your stuff any time, of course; here’s a list of what they take.)
REMINDER – TWO SALE SPOTS IF YOU DON’T HAVE ROOM FOR YOUR OWN: Hotwire Coffee and C&P Coffee are both making space available in their courtyards – contact Lora at Hotwire or Cameron at C&P ASAP if you’re interested.
The official all-Garage-Sale-Day-all-the-time site is at westseattlegaragesale.com, where you’ll find registration info and other updates any time; you can also become a fan of the new WSCGSD page on Facebook by going here.
Fourth day of registration for the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day — one day, many sales big and small all over West Seattle, mapped and marketed by WSB — and three dozen are on the list already, including group and block sales. We extended this year’s registration period to 3 weeks instead of 2 so you’ve got more time to think about it, and hear about it. Today’s other updates: If you haven’t already seen this on the official Community Garage Sale Day site at westseattlegaragesale.com, we have two locations so far offering space to those who can’t or don’t want to have their own standalone sales — Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and C & P Coffee. Space is limited at both so if you’re interested contact Hotwire proprietor Lora or C & P proprietor Cameron ASAP. Also – in addition to offering online signup/payment (go here) and the link to download a form you can mail in (here), preprinted forms are available for pickup at locations around West Seattle (let us know if your business 
is interested in having some forms on hand and we’ll drop ’em by): four WSB sponsors — Hotwire, Illusions Hair Design, Stor-More Self-Storage, and Brunette Mix — and two Seattle Public Library branches, West Seattle (Admiral) and Southwest (35th/Henderson). We’ll have contests again this year – including “Best Sign,” for which Val (photo right) was one of last year’s winners. By the way, West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day is the ONLY major communitywide sale day this spring — the “granddaddy of ’em all” in Greenwood moved to fall this year (at least one person told us they signed up for WSCGSD because of that – they’re looking forward to spring cleaning!) — and we’ll again be getting the word out regionally. Maps will be available earlier this year too – we’re planning to have them ready in time to start handing them out at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival on May 3 (the Sunday before WSCGSD).
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Here’s the most recent fresh sheet. 10 am-2 pm today at 44th/Alaska.
PENGUINA DESIGNS’ OPEN STUDIO: One of our newest WSB sponsors, Penguina Designs, invites you to an Open Studio event today — 11 am-5 pm, 4726 50th SW (map).
EASTER IS ONE WEEK AWAY: We’ve added a few more updates to our page listing Easter and Holy Week church services in West Seattle – see it here.
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY, SECOND DAY OF SIGNUPS: Between the Gathering of Neighbors in-person sign-ups and online registrations, the 5th annual WSCGSD is off to a roaring start. We’ll have news later today on where you can pick up mail-in forms if you need ’em, but in the meantime, you can register online at westseattlegaragesale.com (or print out a mail-in form from there). The big day is Saturday, May 9, with sales all over West Seattle (and if you don’t have room for your own but have stuff you want to sell, talk to Lora at Hotwire Coffee [WSB sponsor], who is opening her courtyard – she’s already signed up for a group sale but will be doing sub-signups (so if you’re going there, sign up with her, not us) for a donation that’ll go to WestSide Baby.
Come see us at the Gathering of Neighbors (11 am-3 pm, Chief Sealth @ Boren) for a special one-day, in-person discounted signup fee, or sign up online right now by going here. Garage Sale Day isn’t one big sale, but many sales all over West Seattle, big and small, all brought together on one map, promoted around the region by your friendly neighborhood WSB team — it’ll be the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, our second year coordinating it. Saturday 5/9/09, 9 am-3 pm, is the big day. If you don’t have a place to sell your own stuff, by the way, get in touch with Lora @ Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) – she’s going to open her courtyard as a group-sale spot (and if anyone else is interested in doing that, please contact us to coordinate – garagesale@westseattleblog.com). Contests this year too – still finalizing the details (last year we had “best sign” and “most unusual sale item”) and prizes. Five weeks from today, mark your calendar, sign up now … last year we had more than 145 sales, but remember, there are 60,000 people in West Seattle, hundreds of thousands of more in the city limits, plenty of shoppers to go around! (Hope to see you at Gathering of Neighbors even if you’re NOT signing up … full participant list here.)
EASTER: The brunch list is still very much a work in progress, but the Holy Week/Easter Sunday church-service list is ready for its closeup. Please take a look, and if you see something missing or wrong, please let us know so we can add/fix.
GATHERING OF NEIGHBORS: The countdown continues – 2 more days till 70+ local organizations and businesses take over Chief Sealth High School (at Boren) for the first Gathering of Neighbors in more than 2 years – which this year also incorporates the Biz Expo. 11 am-3 pm. Come say hi – we’ll have our own WSB table, to report “live” on what’s happening, plus one more thing …
… WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY SIGNUPS START! The big day is Saturday, May 9. Last year, almost 150 sales registered to be part of WSCGSD (which is explained here); this year, we’re experimenting with a longer sign-up period, since last year, some people were just finding out about it after two weeks of (what felt to us like) incessant reminders. So sign-ups start Saturday 4/4, and we’re beginning with a special one-time, one-place deal: Discounts if you come register your sale with us in person at Gathering of Neighbors.
Three reasons we’re starting the weekend countdown way early:
GATHERING OF NEIGHBORS: Think you know West Seattle tip to toe, Duwamish Head to Delridge Triangle, Herring’s House Park to Weather Watch Park? We bet you’ll still find someone, something, some group, some business that’s new to you, when you drop by the Gathering of Neighbors/Biz Expo (WSB sponsor) this Saturday, 11 am-3 pm, Chief Sealth at Boren. We’ll be there, which brings us to …
WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE DAY SIGNUPS START SATURDAY: May 9th is the 5th annual WSCGSD — one day with garage sales all over West Seattle! more than 145 registered last year — and we’re starting registration earlier this year in response to suggestions made last year. First day of registration is this Saturday, and if you come sign up in person at the WSB table at the aforementioned Gathering of Neighbors, we’re offering a one-day-only, in-person-only discount from the regular fees (which are otherwise the same as last year, which in turn was a cut from the year before): That means if you sign up with us in person that day at G-o-N, it’s $10/individual sale, $15/organization-school-etc., $25/block. (Rest of the time it’s $12-$20-$30.) By the way, if you don’t have room for your own sale, we know of at least one place that will offer space for you to come set up a table – Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), in the courtyard – more on that later this week.
WATER TAXI SEASON STARTS SUNDAY: It’s one of the best freebies of the year – the King County (formerly Elliott Bay) Water Taxi will be free all day on kickoff day this Sunday, plus Seacrest Pier will be in full celebration mode that day from noon-2 pm — music, speeches, surprises, general revelry. Water Taxi schedules and fares all await you here.
MAKE IT WORKSHOP: A sad note from the sewing-instruction business in The Building, the art/craft studios just west of Seattle International Church in Gatewood (Othello west of California; map), seen here in Google Street View:
Make It Workshop proprietor Joey sent this e-mail announcement headed “Can’t make it work” and asking that it be shared “far and wide”:
As great of an idea as MIW seems to be -So sad to say- I am not attracting enough students to stay in business… Maybe the economy or busy schedules. I dunno?? But for the time being- MIW will have to be on hold…after April maybe..?? If you are signed up for a class, don’t worry, I’ll be here for it- bring a friend if you can!! On another BIG note- I *need *to find an artist or crafter to take/rent my gorgeous space. I ambitiously signed a 2-year lease and cannot get out-until there’s another renter. It’s such an incredible work environment that we put a lot of work into- if you know anyone looking for a space or 2 people?? write me for my landlord’s number/info..
Joey’s contact info is on the Make It Workshop webpage at makeitworkshop.com.
TALK WITH THE TOASTMASTERS: One of the listings for today on our West Seattle-wide WSB Events calendar (which now stretches into fall – is YOUR event on it? editor@westseattleblog.com) is from the Daystar Dialoguers Toastmasters, who invite you to their open house, noon-1 pm today at Daystar (across SW Barton from Westwood Village). Find out more about them online at daystarclub.freetoasthost.us.
RUMMAGE X 2: Early heads-up if you relish rummage sales: Two West Seattle churches have big ones planned this Friday and Saturday. West Side Presbyterian Church (3601 California SW; map) plans theirs 9 am-5 pm Friday, 9 am-2 pm Saturday; Tibbetts United Methodist Church (3940 41st SW; map) is at 9 am-4 pm Friday, 9 am-3 pm Saturday.
SPEAKING OF RUMMAGE SALES: The 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, presented again this year by WSB, is two months from today – May 9, 2009. More details on this year’s registration, etc., by this time next week.
Maybe it’s the sunshine. We have received two phone calls in the past hour or so inquiring about this. So maybe we shouldn’t wait any longer for a reminder: Yes, WSB **is** sponsoring the fifth annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day this year — our second year sponsoring the event, which was created by the late, great nonprofit Megawatt. It’ll be on Saturday, May 9th. If you’re new to West Seattle or somehow missed last year, you can check out some of the coverage on our companion site, westseattlegaragesale.com (beware, we haven’t updated it lately, but scroll down and you’ll see all the posts from last year’s event). We’ll announce registration dates and other key facts soon.
The next West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day — which’ll be the second one presented by WSB, after the late great Megawatt sponsored the first three — is exactly six months from today! Just wanted to mention that so you could be sure to mark your calendar. Last year was a blast, with more than 140 sales all around West Seattle (browse our coverage archive at westseattlegaragesale.com); if you don’t have an ’09 calendar yet, set an Outlook reminder or whatever it takes – Saturday, May 9, 2009, is the date. (But first, let’s savor what remains of ’08 … including the holidays … we’re continuously adding more West Seattle holiday events to our Holiday Happenings page, by the way.)
That’s Matt Swenson from the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council, presenting a check Monday night to Cooper Elementary principal Cathy Rutherford during PPNC’s monthly meeting at the school. As reported in this month’s edition of the Pigeon Point newsletter (read it here), the Pigeon Point sale that was part of last month’s WSB-presented West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day brought in almost $800 to be donated to Cooper. Next WSCGSD is May 9, 2009; long before then, Pigeon Point will be inviting you to a big event of its own — its first Fall Festival, on the drawing boards now for a September Saturday TBA.
As you might recall, for our first year as organizers of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day (the 4th-annual edition was this past Saturday), we added a couple contests to the mix, asking entrants to e-mail us photo entries by mid-afternoon today. That big bag of duck decoys shown above is the “Most Unusual Item” winner (open to shoppers as well as sellers) — Pam (who writes Nerd’s Eye View) reports she found it at the alley sale near 37th/Holden. Pam gets a Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) card. Meanwhile, we promised two prizes in the contest with the most entries, and that was “Best Sign” — our winners are:
Cheryl gets the Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) gift certificate for that sign promoting the sale that raised money for her upcoming participation in the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk (Sept. 12-14; her fundraising page is here; you’ll recall the 3-Day came thru West Seattle last year – WSB coverage here). (P.S. Cheryl says teammate and garage=sale-mate Jana Sorsen made the sign; here’s Jana’s 3-Day page.) And the other “Best Sign” winner:
That’s Val, who proudly reports about her sign, “Please note: all materials used were recycled from a party a couple of years ago, nothing was purchased!” Val gets a gift certificate from the new Body Bar dayspa. And we have one more bonus prize:
Ashley, who joined other sellers in the Hotwire courtyard, was the only person to enter BOTH contests; we have a Hotwire coffee card for her too. The photo shows her beautifully lettered sign (her candidate for “Most Unusual Item” was betta-fish tanks she offered for sale). Congratulations to all (we’ll e-mail the winners to make arrangements for delivering prizes); thanks to Hotwire, Illusions, and Body Bar for donating the prizes; thanks to everyone who was part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day; stand by for an online survey we’ll be setting up within a few days, and mark your calendar for the 5th annual WSCGSD on May 9, 2009!
First, the Sunday sale: The folks at Community School of West Seattle want you to know their megasale (100+ families) is continuing today, till 4 pm. (And yes, they have tents, so don’t let the rain stop you! Address and Saturday picture are here.) Next, a sale report from the North Delridge Neighborhood Council, which sent this Saturday photo (we showed a pic of the NDNC bake sale yesterday):
That sale raised money and volunteer hours (important for matching funds) to expand the play area at Cottage Grove Park (5206 26th SW; city info page here) with tot-size equipment, particularly in hopes of affording a fun setup similar to this:
Next step is where you come in, if you can help: An organizational meeting Friday morning. Here’s the invitation from organizers:
Neighbors are planning to build a playground for babies and toddlers at the Cottage Grove Playground in Delridge. We need YOUR input – which playground design should we choose? Which equipment do we want? How can we best raise money? Come give your input at a playground meeting.
Friday, May 16, 10 am at Cottage Grove playground if the weather is good; or at the Delridge Community Center common area if the weather is bad. If the indoor play area is open we’ll meet there. Bring kids, blanket for the grass & snacks for your family.
Questions? Betsy(at)hoffmeisters(dot)com
Did you shop? Did you sell? Did you have fun? Since we filed so many separate updates, we thought we’d put up this “open thread” post specifically for comments wtih WSCGSD reports, if you care to share ’em. We’ll have an official survey within a few days seeking feedback for next year, but if you have something to suggest now, that’s welcome here too. (P.S., don’t forget the contests.) Thanks to EVERYONE who was part of the 4th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day in some form or another; our first time organizing it has been intense but fun! (Now it’s off to round up the sandwich boards …)
“Christmas at Skylark” (3803 Delridge), as dubbed by Patrick the Sales Guy, who has been making most of the photography rounds today. However, in the past hour, your editor here and Junior Member of the Team broke away from WSB HQ to see what’s up. Dropped by a couple sales incognito, west of California, north of The Junction; bought strawberry lemonade from the kids at 47th/Dakota, wandered into an alley sale a few blocks east and got the unsolicited proclamation from the saleholder that “All the good stuff’s gone; it’s been a busy morning.” Well, not ALL the good stuff; Junior Member was furious we wouldn’t let him spend $5 on a big hulking scanner. Meantime, back at the sales – here’s the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle sale at 5637 42nd SW:
Along Fauntleroy (5962), two pix from the PB&J Textiles sale:
We drove through The Junction and noted group sale sites in the vicinity were still jumping, as were Junction businesses (megaline outside Bakery Nouveau, even at 1:30 pm). There’s still an hour to shop; get a map here if you need it.
BULLETIN! Sunshine just broke out at the halfway mark. Now, more of the bigger sites:
That’s the bake sale at the North Delridge Neighborhood Council sale, 2512 SW Genesee, raising money for tot-size play equipment at Cottage Grove Park. Heading northwest from there:
Booming business when we stopped by the Log House Museum sale (3003 61st SW). Next – in the Admiral District, Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor; 2210 California SW) is participating:
South of The Junction, there’s a group sale (like Hotwire & Freshy’s, both shown earlier) at C and P Coffee (5612 California SW):
Alki UCC church (6115 SW Hinds) is having a plant sale as part of WSCGSD:
And here’s another one of the fundraising sales – a multifamily sale at 4136 Beach Drive, raising money for the American Cancer Society:
Sales continue till 3 pm; get your map here.
That’s Amber Bennett, proprietor of Freshy’s Coffee at 2735 California SW, holding their entry for the “Best Sign” contest – one of two contests we’re having as part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day today — “Best Sign” is for sellers; photograph your creative sign(s) and e-mail the photo after the sale to garagesale@westseattleblog.com; “Most Unusual Item” is for shoppers OR sellers – e-mail a photo and tell us which participating sale you bought/sold it at – same address, garagesale@westseattleblog.com. Prize for “Most Unusual Item” is a Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor and sale location today) card; prize for “Best Sign” is an Illusions (WSB sponsor) gift certificate; whichever contest gets the most entries will also have a second prize awarded, a gift certificate from the new Body Bar massage/skin care dayspa; winners will be announced Monday night. Back to Freshy’s for a sec – they’re doing the “Handmade Brigade” arts/crafts sale as well as yard-sale stuff – here’s a look down their sidewalk across from Hiawatha:
More group-sale updates coming up next. The sales continue till 3 pm; get your map here.
That’s Gina (left) and JanS from the WSB Forum Community, at their sale @ 2655 45th SW (near Lafayette). Part of the sale is raising $ for Jan, a longtime WSB’er who’ll be out of work a while after hip-replacement surgery this week – some items are offered at whatever you’re willing to pay as a free-will donation; read more about this sale in this thread on the forum. (More updates to come; sales continue till 3 pm; get your map here.)
ADDED 10:29 AM: Those are photos from 7138 32nd SW, a sale raising money for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, which fights childhood cancer. The family hosting the sale has a child fighting cancer, and is telling their story online here. (Click the address in that sentence to see where it’s at on the Google version of the WSCGSD map; get the printable map here.) ORIGINAL UPDATE: Another round of photos is headed this way – first some anecdotal observations, as the WSB team member who’s not on photo patrol took a quick side trip down the hill to the store – saw lots of folks browsing the sales in the Gatewood/Upper Fauntleroy area – and the sky’s getting lighter all the time! P.S. If you just can’t find a preprinted map (we know our official locations still have some, we checked this morning), we’ve also put a few out in a box by our sandwich board sign near WSB HQ – look for it @ California/Thistle.
That’s the courtyard next to Hotwire Coffee, one of today’s group-sale spots (proprietor Lora offered space in exchange for a nominal donation to Furry Faces, a West Seattle-based animal-rescue group). Next — after stopping at the Community School of West Seattle megasale (see previous post), we hopped a couple blocks over to 9211 21st SW, where the sale’s in the back yard:
(Map/list of all sales available here.)
Brief shower at 8 am. We can see breaks in the clouds behind it, so don’t panic. Meantime, our roving field crew just stopped at the Community School of West Seattle; they started at 8 am – by 8:05 they’d already made $100! 9450 22nd SW. (Photo above) (Map/list of all sales available here.)
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