Town Hosts 7th Annual Yard Sale

Town Hosts 7th Annual Yard Sale
The Increasingly Popular Event began during 250th Celebration
Stephen Landry
News Staff Writer 

News staff photos by STEPHEN LANDRY
Early risers hunt for bargains at the 7th annual townwide yard sale in Templeton on Saturday.

 

TEMPLETON  The experienced shoppers began arriving hours before the official 8 a.m. start time, but Gail Whittle didn’t mind.

In fact, the organizer of the town’s seventh annual townwide yard sale laughed and began handing out maps that listed the addresses of the more than 40 residents who were taking part in the event. “I’m a real stickler on these maps,” Ms. Whittle said, adding that some eager shoppers, trying to gain an advantage over the competition, have actually offered to purchase the highly-coveted maps days before the event.

“I don’t like to pass them out before the date because then we’ll have people haunting these sellers during the week,” Ms. Whittle said, adding that her son, Scott Whittle, took over the map-designing duties for this year’s yard sale.

The event traces its roots to the town’s 250th birthday celebration seven years ago.

“I was trying to find ways to make money for the Templeton 250, and I’m a huge yard sale fanatic, so we figured why not try it,” Ms. Whittle said.

The first yard sale was a success, despite weeks of rainy weather leading up to the event, with more than 120 residents setting up tables to sell their goods.

“It was phenomenal,” Ms. Whittle said, adding that it was an easy decision to continue with the sale, especially with more and more residents and family members pitching in to help organize the annual event.

The money raised from the initial yard sale went to help fund the town’s birthday celebration, so organizers had to decide where to direct the money raised from subsequent events. It wasn’t difficult to find local organizations in need of some fundraising, according to Ms. Whittle.

“I have a couple of grandsons in the Narragansett band, and they’re always looking for funds,” Ms. Whittle said. So that’s where the money is going for the moment. When they’re out of school, I’ll look for some other place. Everybody in town needs money.”

The annual yard sale, which seems to grow in popularity each year, shows no sign of going away any time soon, according to organizers. In fact, the increased number of shoppers from across the region has led to the main complaint against the event — the traffic congestion along Baldwinville Road.

“It can be a headache for local residents,” Ms. Whittle said. “We had the police department here last year yelling at people because they were parking on both sides of the road. If you live on this road and you’re trying to get home, you might be upset with us.”

Still, Ms. Whittle said, the majority of residents look forward to the annual yard sale.

“I think it’s one of the better yard sales around,” she said. “It’s a lot of hubbub and sometimes difficult to get through, but it’s exciting and we love it.”