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A 1996 Lincoln Town Car, a wagon filled with plants and a wood chipper.
What do these things have in common? All were on sale or given away for free across Mountain View this past weekend during its citywide garage sale.
More than 230 residents participated in the 22nd annual garage sale, organizing their driveways or gathering in parking lots to showcase old belongings in the hopes that someone else could give them a new beginning. The city organizes the event each year, this time with an interactive map of addresses and the types of items people were selling, along with a printable PDF and paper copies at the library and city hall.
This was the first time Helen Young participated in the garage sale after living in Mountain View for more than 50 years. Her family helped organize their items on her driveway, and her daughter-in-law, Diane Young, helped run the sale.
Diane Young said she was impressed by how organized the event was. After accidentally inputting the wrong address for their house, someone from the city called her to confirm it, as well as confirm the types of items they were selling.
Within their trove was five sets of the Chinese tile game mahjong, a complete tea set and a series of nine European art books, along with a variety of other books, clothes and jewelry. While not everything was sold — a ping-pong table complete with paddles and a net stayed at the front of the driveway all day — Helen Young said most visitors were very enthusiastic about their finds.
“It makes me happy too, because they like it,” Helen Young said.
That sense of appreciation is also one of Patricia Firtik’s favorite parts of the garage sale. She and her mother, Elisabeth, used to participate in the city’s “Community Yard Sale” at Rengstorff Park, starting about eight years ago.
City spokesperson Lenka Wright said the Community Yard Sale was a completely separate event that paused in 2018 because of construction associated with the Mountain View Community Center’s remodeling. The city decided to discontinue the yard sale event because of how much staff time and energy it took, and instead pivoted to promoting the garage sale.
Firtik said having the sale at her house makes it easier to set up and helps her get to know her neighbors. She had multiple folding tables organized in rows on her driveway and was selling a wide variety of items, from power tools to glass dishware to stuffed dogs, which were formerly display props Firtik used for her business, ShadyPaws.
Some of the clothes, shoes, hats and accessories Firtik was selling belonged to her mother, who died two years ago. She was “meticulously dressed,” Firtik said, and she was glad to see the pieces bought by people who will continue to wear them. Earlier in the day, a woman bought a bracelet and earrings set, asking about the history Firtik’s mother had with the jewelry.
“She left me a lot of beautiful things,” Firtik said. “Rather than just dismissing and discarding it and putting it to the Goodwill, I get joy out of selling it like you saw today. It makes me happy that I know that girl loved my mom’s things.”
Multiple tables were organized in the parking lot of Stevenson Elementary School, with children’s clothes, books, toys and other homegoods. The school’s Parent-Teacher Organization organized the table and encouraged parents to donate or table themselves in the parking lot, as a fundraiser for the school’s PACT fund, which is used for science classes, field trips and art activities.
The organization’s foundation chair, Erin Davis-Hung, told the Voice that this was its second year doing the fundraiser and last year raised almost $1,000. Hosting the event in the school’s parking lot makes it more accessible to families who live in apartment buildings and parents who want to donate but aren’t available on the day-of, as they can drop off their items at the general table.
Brad Greer was tabling in the parking lot across from the general table, to support the fundraiser. He and his wife had cleaned through their house for things that they hadn’t used in a long while — books they’d already read, toys their children don’t play with anymore, even Greer’s weed trimmer, which was no longer needed after they relandscaped their home. By lunchtime, the weed trimmer was gone, as were multiple bags of bulk Legos.
“It’s like a slot machine,” Greer said. “People love to gamble and not knowing what you’re going to find at the garage sale is part of the fun.”
Greer said it was great to pass on the things his family no longer needs but someone else may.
Erin Anderson, who was visiting the sale at Stevenson Elementary School’s parking lot with her 2-year-old daughter, Letti, said the garage sale was a nice opportunity to walk around and meet people in the community. Getting to know the people and story behind each item gives it more meaning, too, especially between other parents selling things their children have outgrown.
“It’s cool,” Anderson said. “(We learn) what books were their favorite, so it means more to pick it up and take it home, and then it becomes our favorite, too.”
Wright said the city is looking for feedback from sellers and shoppers in this post-event survey.
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Such a fun read, B. Sakura Cannestra — you totally nailed the vibe of the day.
Big props to the City of Mountain View crew for pulling off the 22nd annual citywide garage sale — the map, the whole deal. Love that.
And since you featured the Stevenson parking lot sale, here’s a little behind-the-scenes color: this was only their second year doing it as a group stop. Last year they blew past their fundraising goal and had so much fun they came back bigger — trunk-or-treat style, card payments, plus a baked goods and mint lemonade stand. All volunteers, all for the school’s PACT fund.
Can’t wait for next year!