Central and Heck, a busy corner. All photos by Paul Goldfinger © 2014. Click on all photos to enlarge
Getting off to an early start. Having fun. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
All indications are that the town-wide yard sale was a success. It was, as hoped for, a spirited event with lots of laughs and socializing. It seemed that sellers and buyers were all eager to enjoy a warm day in the Grove. We met many visitors from out of town. One woman told me that she has been to many town yard sales, but ours was the best.
We had 62 families plus others who didn’t sign on, but who had yard sales anyhow, so the numbers were actually higher.
The Cashman family from Pennsylvania stop off at the Blogfinger compound and sale. ©
Old timers speak of yard sales and flea markets in the Grove from many years ago when little old ladies would empty their attics and put out antiques, but those days are largely over, although some antiques were around. People hunting for those sorts of treasures were out scoping the terrain two hours before starting time. We went around and sampled some of the sales. Moe Demby (my security staff) and I biked around and talked to yard sale people. We found that most of the sales were busy and were showing a lot of housewares, clothes, vinyl, CD’s etc. . There were a few furniture pieces and a wide assortment of stuff.
A sale amongst the tents. Roberta (L) from Hightstown and Lauren from N. Brunswick find some treasures at Bob and Jane’s house. ©
As usual, most of the sellers had items left over. Some said they made around $150.00, but one seller, who was set up in front of a very large house, told us that he had already made over $700.00, and this was about 11 am. There were no complaints, and most seemed to be having a good time.
One seller had her iPhone stolen from her porch. There were a couple of suspicious characters whom she suspected. The New York Times last week reported a major increase lately in stolen iPhones. In addition, a county prosecutor who lives in the Grove told me that there has been a rash of such thefts at yard sales in particular. I guess people get distracted and just lay their phones down.
Jean and Jack having some yucks at their Heck Avenue sale.
The question arises: Are yard sales, especially the town wide variety, worth while in the Grove? Obviously there is not a lot of money to be made, but it seems to be a sort of festival where the benefits are not only commercial. It is a sporting event where the goal is get around town, find some bargains, meet some people, have some laughs and see interesting things. I think it livens up the town and helps counter stereotypes of the Grove as a stodgy boring place, a characterization which has been false for years, but we at Blogfinger have been trying to overcome since our founding in 2009. We love to reveal the real lifestyle of this town which continues to evolve and gain energy. Maybe we will see the “Real Housewives of Ocean Grove” on TV some time.
Mt. Hermon Way–always a hot bed of yard sale activity. In the foreground is Cousin Brucie. ©
We met one seller who had about 100 records for sale. Her son said that his Mom is stuck in the Motown era. One buyer bought 75 records at $1.00 each, but most were still left. We had a dresser that went unsold for $15.00. In the end, we put it out to the curb. We met a rotweiler who was drooling from the heat, but mostly people did not bring their dogs. Some Haitians showed up at our sale and they are hard bargainers. We settled on $17.00, but there was a language issue. I offered “dix-sept.” She said “dollars?” I said yes, and we had a deal. In Paris I had a lot more trouble making my French understood.
We were playing music on our porch—it was mostly Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks with some bouncy roaring twenties stuff. The music attracted more interest than our sale items. Our first sale was a record album by the Steve Miller Band. The buyer could not believe that I never heard of that group. Photos of Ocean Grove sold well as did linens.
So do you all agree that it was worthwhile? Should we do it again next year?
THE BEATLES from their album “Revolver.”
Hi Paul: You did a great job—- glad you’re retired.LOL I am sure we should put pressure on Neptune next year to have a free pass for permits; thats the least for what we pay in taxes.
Getting information from Neptune Township is simple and easy. Any resident fills out the form titled: REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT RECORDS, commonly known as an OPRA request. I handed one in to the Code Dept. Monday around noon asking how many permits were issued for the OG sale. This morning I got a phone call that 50 were issued. since I paid for one but was not one of your 62, that left 49 as possibilities including vacmom.
BTW: Fees are one of those necessary evils to keep the wheels of municipal government and services going. I am sure there are dog owners who resent the fee for a dog license; I imagine some dog owners believe it unfair that cat owners do not have to pay a pet fee. Without fees for specific activities the costs would have to come from general revenues raised by real estate taxes.
Ken: Please tell us where you got those stats regarding how many yard sellers bought permits. I’m sure you would not have made up that number (49). Your credibility is at stake.
And for those who are taking a hard look at Ken’s number, keep in mind that not every yard sale that day was held as part of the official Blogfinger Town Wide sale. We suggested to everyone on our yard sale page that they get a permit, even though, in my opinion, those fees (taxes) should be rescinded.
Paul @Blogfinger
vacmom: You and at most 49 other of the 62 Blogfinger subscribers paid for a permit. Do not know what to think about that.
vacmom. Thank you for the encouraging word (OG is like being home on the range where seldom is heard a discouraging word.) I wasn’t fishing for pats on the back. I’m more interested in whether people actually enjoyed the event and felt it was worthwhile because I like to be involved in something that promotes good will in town.
I do plan to do the 4th annual town wide yard sale in 2015, although I doubt that Eileen wants to do it again at our house—we finally can see the floor in our basement. Hopefully we will have some more volunteers next year so that we can do more, such as supplying lists and maps to all visitors and thinking of creative ways to get more visitors into town including wider publicity, and to monitor the sales and help the visitors during the event.
Maybe we will get 100 sellers in 2015. Maybe some of the town organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Historical Society will give us a hand. Perhaps Neptune Twp. will see the public relations value of helping town wide regional yard sales throughout the Township. They took a fine first step by reducing the cost of the permits. Next they ought to cancel those permits altogether and allow us to put fliers up on the poles like they did in the past. ——Paul
Paul, Thanks for all the work you do. Given the pack rat status of my family, we could do this tag sale in perpetuity. The $5 for advertising is well worth it since I find that the most time consuming if one does a tag sale on their own. In response to Ken’s question, I did shell out the $5 for a permit and no one asked to see it. Say yes to the town wide yard sale in 2015!
I always enjoy the town sale and would be disappointed if you decided not to continue. Thanks for your efforts!
At a personal level, many people have told me that they thought the town wide sale was a success. From a financial point of view, the money that came in via $5.00 per address enabled us to have the poster design done, print posters and pay for the APP ad. We essentially broke even, but we did not have enough to make copies of the list or the town map. Maybe next year.
This was a record breaking year with 62 families, so thank you all who participated.
Paul
I didn’t say that everyone in that photo was a Cashman. Actually 3 are not.
Why is Moe Demby passing himself off as a Cashman?
Thank you for the great event! The best part is chatting with people! We loved it !
How about a poll of the 62 who also paid for a permit?
And how many were checked for a permit?
Thanks Lauren: You and Roberta were good sports to pose for us. I enjoyed meeting you both, also. —Paul
great sale thanks 61 Clark St yah it was the very best! Sami
We had a fantastic day. The sales are great fun. So many nice people to talk to. Besides shopping the sales, the houses are beautiful, the spring gardens are lovely, and the weather was great. We love Ocean Grove.
I hope you continue to have your town wide yard sales!! It was also so nice meeting you today, Paul.
Had a blast peddling around town … Started on Stockton but didn’t even make it to Main, Got some nice things! Thank you for organizing and publicizing!