By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

For the third year in a row, the weather posed a threat to the Town-Wide Yard Sale. Last week we postponed the May 13th setting because of horrible rain.  Today, May 20, we expected sunshine, but when we woke up we heard wind gusts, and then, looking out the window, we saw clouds.   It was chilly at 60 degrees, and there were a few little showers late in the morning, causing sellers to open up, cover up, and then start again, often  moving to the porch briefly.  One out-of-towner was cold, so he bought a hoodie from us.

We estimate that the Grove had about 60 yard sale sites.  We signed up 49, and there were a number of others that joined in without signing up–I met 3 of those without having to look very hard.   Asbury Park also had a town sale today but they were expecting only 25, and that is over an area larger than the Grove.   Our yard sale manager Vincent  Cannavo said that the density of yard sales in our small town makes for a perfect location for an annual town-wide sale.   Last year we outnumbered Bradley Beach.  There is no data as to how many of our sellers failed to open up because of the weather, but I don’t think there were more than a few.

It’s impossible to know the number of attendees at our yard sales,  Yard sailors told me that they had a fairly successful day  with a steady stream of shoppers despite the lack of sunshine.

As usual, the best thing about the TWYS  is the social component.  We met Grovers whom we never met before and we saw others whom we see only occasionally,  as well as visitors some of whom are regulars in town and who love the yard sales.  They come, often stay over,  eat out, and patronize our merchants.

Eileen and I met a multi-lingual visitor (4 languages) who bought bowls from us and did a fine impression of a Parisian waiter.  A women from Staten Island gave me a lecture as to why rubbing lemongrass oil over your liver was better than Lipitor for cholesterol.   Exchanging stories and observations about our town is always fun, especially with strangers who give us some “out-of-the bubble” points of view.

Many Grovers and visitors stopped by our place to talk about Blogfinger, and, without exception, they were supportive. Some commenters came out of the closet to help me match the face with the pseudonym. Aggravated Curmudgeon’s wife told me  that Curmudgeon is actually a nice guy and isn’t always aggravated. He was home selling stuff.

We met visitors  from the outer reaches of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Cincinnati,  and New York—Staten Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan.  Some of the Grovers we spoke to are new residents  in town including Lucy and Reena (both of whom had sales today.)

Several early visitors at our sale were looking for vinyl, but what interested me was that one was a young man.  It turns out young music lovers are taking a keen interest in collecting and playing vinyl.  An antique dealer from a neighboring town told me that sales of “old’ antiques were down because young couples aren’t interested, but there is enhanced interest in vintage stuff such as from the forties and the fifties.

So thanks to all of you Grovers who participated.   It actually can be fairly stressful and difficult to prepare for a yard sale, and when it’s over, you’re still not done working.  But despite that, it is fun.

MISS PEGGY LEE: