Now in its fifth edition, the townwide event encourages the recycling of household goods, promoters say. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Townwide Yard Sale returns in three weeks, leapfrogging to spring from its customary early-fall time slot.
Usually held in late September, the event this year occurs on May 5, and organizers expect the spring haul-out to stick, as borough residents and bargain hunters alike turn their attention to the important tasks of offloading unwanted junk and buying, um, someone else’s junk.
“September is just a hard time, with kids going back to school, the Jewish holidays and other activities,” said Beth Hanratty, president of the Friends of the Red Bank Public Library, which has hosted the event since 2010. After four fall editions of the sale, “the feedback we got was that spring was more the season for yard sales, with other towns holding theirs, spring cleaning an all that,” she said.
As in recent years, the event is a benefit for the Friends group, which functions as an independent fundraiser for the library and typically nets about $600 from the voluntary $10 registration fees, after expenses. The money helps support a writing program, artists’ workshops, book purchases and more, Hanratty said.
Not part of the event this year is an annual book sale by the library, which in the past has consisted of a Friday night soiree followed by the sale itself on the day of the yard sale. Organizers found that managing the two simultaneously was a bit too much, and that the night-before reception and sale were popular enough to stand on their own, Hanratty said. They’ll return in November, she said.
The yard sale typically attracts about 120 participating homes, and thousands of shoppers.
The library, at 84 West Front Street, will once again serve as the staging area for yard sale participants who wish to pick up helium balloon and locator maps showing all the participating addresses. The event is nominally from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., though participants can set their own hours. In the event of bad weather, it’s up to the individual participants whether to avail themselves of an unofficial May 6 rain date; no announcement of a rain-out will be made.
Here’s a fact sheet about the event: 2012 Town Yard Sale Fact Sheet
And here’s the registration form: 2012 Town Yard Sale Reg Form
Meanwhile, don’t forget about Saturday’s 75th anniversary celebration of the library’s occupancy of the former Sigmund Eisner mansion. The event, with a ribbon-cutting for the New Jersey History Room, runs from 2 to 4 p.m., with a birthday cake and other kid-friendly activities in the children’s room from 2:30 to 3:30.
