The weekend garage sale has been a mainstay of just about any neighborhood in any community for as long as neighborhoods and communities have been around. It’s no different in the Santa Barbara area.
And there are people — call them regulars, stuff addicts, pros or less flattering terms — who spend literally every weekend combing these manifestations of the old saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” For them, and even for those of us who admit to an occasional curious foray into the cast-off belongings of people we don’t even know, there is one Saturday of every year that stands out as the day of the not-to-be-missed-or-I-might-miss-out-on-something-I-can’t-live-without “Sale of Sales.”
The annual multi-household Mountain View School Neighborhood Garage Sale has been around for 10 years and always includes participation from at least 20 households.
The event is organized each year by the mother-daughter Realtor team of Marie Sue Parsons and Stephanie Young.
“We love organizing it each year, meeting new people and doing a little shopping of our own,” Young said. “And now that I have my own child, I’m always looking for gently used toys and children’s clothing, and I always find wonderful stuff.”
Speaking of organized, that’s what shoppers will have to be with 20 or more stops to cover in four hours. Those wanting to make every stop will have only about 10 minutes per location. Armed with the following list of participants’ addresses and a Google map, the most determined shoppers might have a chance.
The 2011 Mountain View School Neighborhood Garage Sale will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday at the following addresses:
782, 786 and 1077 Cambridge Drive
1134 Camino Manadero
1274 Camino Meleno
1483 Camino Rio Verde
5512 Cathedral Oaks Road
993 Crown Ave.
970 and 972 N. Kellogg Ave.
867, 1129 and 1145 N. Patterson Ave.
5365 Paseo Orlando
5350 Paseo Rio
1060 Randolph
5414 and 5422 Throne Court
960, 990 and 1001 Via Bolzano
5641 Via Messina
— Michael O’Shea is a Santa Barbara-based writer and communications consultant.