Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 24th, 2017 in Main 
Last Saturday was Sun Valley’s annual neighborhood garage sale day. Rain or shine, whether we’re looking for anything in particular or not, we always go to garage sale, because it’s a tradition. Susan, the kids and I arrived at dad’s just before seven a.m. and had doughnuts and drinks (coffee for some, chocolate milk for others) before venturing out. (Note to self for next year: most of the garage sales didn’t open until 8 a.m. — wait until then to go.) This year’s garage sales were kind of a bummer. There were a lot of clothes and a lot of… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 23rd, 2012 in MainSun Valley (the neighborhood I grew up in) has been having an annual neighborhood garage sale day for as long as I can remember. And, for what it’s worth, I’ve been writing about them for as long as I’ve been blogging. As has been the tradition, the Friday night before Garage Sale Day, I hauled my golf cart over to Dad’s house and had it ready to go. I also took with me my small red trailer that I got last year at last year’s garage sale day, and a cooler full of ice and bottled water. A few hours… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 25th, 2010 in MainLong time readers of the blog know about Sun Valley’s annual Garage Sale Day. I grew up in Sun Valley and they’ve been having garage sale day for just about as long as I can remember. Attendance and participation flexes from year to year. I can remember years where it was nearly impossible to make your way into, out of, or through the neighborhood. It hasn’t been quite that crowded over the past few years; I’d estimate that there were somewhere between 25-30 garage sales this year. You never know what you’re going to find on garage sale day. I… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 22nd, 2021 in MainI’ve been attending Sun Valley Garage Sale weekends since the late 70s/early 80s, and writing about them on this blog for more than fifteen years. I’m afraid both of those things may have come to an end. Pat Deckard was the red-headed dervish behind Sun Valley’s annual garage sales. Pat was a realtor who happened to live in Sun Valley, and whom my family personally had the pleasure of living next door to. I don’t know what all went in to organizing the annual event or how much work it took. All I know is that over the past 40+… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on May 1st, 2023 in Main 
It is not only the season for garage sales, but neighborhood garage sales as well. Many times on this blog I have written about the neighborhood sales I used to attend in Sun Valley, the neighborhood I grew up in, and in most of those posts I have opined how the sales they hold today pale in comparison. When I was a kid, it seemed like some years nearly half the residents in our neighborhood participated in garage sale day. A couple of years ago when we attended, there were only four sales in all. This year I’d guess there… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 30th, 2018 in Main 
Each year I look forward to my old neighborhood’s annual garage sale day just as much as I did when I was a kid, and each year it seems like fewer houses participate. This year may have been an all-time low. Thanks to 24 hours of solid rain, when Susan and I drove through Sun Valley in search of deals we only saw two houses with their garage doors open. In its heyday, I’ll bet there were years where there were at least 50 garage sales. Of course the garage sales are only half the reason I like to go.… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 13th, 2008 in MainAnother year, another Sun Valley Garage Sale Day gone by. As a youngster, my mom and grandma hauled my sister and I to our fair share of garage sales, but Sun Valley’s Garage Sale Day was the first “neighborhood” garage sale I can personally remember attending. On every Garage Sale Day, dozens of our neighbors would open their garage doors, exchanging both greetings and piles of junk with one another. Garage Sale Day wasn’t just about the garage sales — it was a neighborhood-wide block party. With each passing year Garage Sale Day seemed to grow. More and more people… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on June 9th, 2007 in MainEarlier in the week Susan noticed signs posted around the entrance of our neighborhood announcing that this weekend would be garage sale day for not only our neighborhood, but all four neighborhoods that corner the Reno and Czech Hall intersection. We don’t get a chance to garage sale as often as we would like, so these neighborhood garagle sales are a good way to get the best bang for your buck, so to speak — you can hit 20 or more garage sales in one day and get the whole garage sale thing out of your system for a while.… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 22nd, 2007 in MainOnce again, Sun Valley’s annual Garage Sale Day went off without a hitch. The kids, Susan and I woke up around 7am, piled into the van shortly after and made a b-line for dad’s house. Mom, Jack, Linda and Griffin were already there waiting. Last year, Dad, Mason and I made our way around the garage sales on dad’s two riding lawn mowers, Dad driving one with Mason and myself on the other. This year, I brought over the golf kart, and the three of us rode our way around the neighborhood while Mom and Jack walked and Susan and… (read more)
Posted by RobOHara ( @Commodork) on April 20th, 2007 in MainTomorrow is Sun Valley’s annual Garage Sale Day, the one day each year where dozens of people from the neighborhood I grew up in all have a garage sale on the same day. I know some of you are thinking, “what he really should be doing is getting rid of crap instead of amassing more of it,” but Sun Valley Garage Sale Day is less about buying stuff (although we almost always come home with something unique) and more about running into old friends. It’s like Homecoming, if at Homecoming they sold ugly lamps for fifty cents. Last year, Dad… (read more)
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