Carver Town-Wide Yard Sale

It's yard sale season here on the SouthCoast. A time of year when people put out the things they don't want to own any more in the hopes that other people will actually want to give them money to buy their junk. It's a good time for both the buyers and the sellers.

In Carver, they are taking an interesting twist on yard sales this year. The town will hold its first ever town-wide yard sale. If you are someone who enjoys yard sales, you'll want to enter this date immediately into your phone. On Saturday, June 26 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., you'll be able to ride the streets of Carver and see yard sales all over town.

The idea came from new Carver Select Board member Jen Bogart. Bogart grew up in central Massachusetts, where town-wide yard sales are a huge event in nearly every town in the region. She loved the idea and wanted to bring it to Carver after she was elected last year. She used Rutland, Massachusetts as the model, and her fellow select board members liked the idea.

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The concept is for town residents to take advantage of the promotion and advertising that will be done by the town.

Bogart says that Carver will be running a "skeleton version" of the yard sale. Participants will all be having the sales from their homes. In Rutland, not only can people set up in front of their homes, public space in the town's center is also made available.

"That adds a whole new level of flea market sales, food trucks, you can involve more community groups," she said.

Residents have until June 17 to submit an application. When all of the yard sale locations have been determined, the town will list them on its website and publish them on its Facebook page. Bogart will also put together a map of the town showing where all of the yard sales will be taking place. An advertisement will also be placed in the Carver Reporter.

The idea reminds me of what happens in Acushnet during every Apple Peach Festival weekend, when Acushnet turns into yard sale heaven. House after house on Main Street has their belongings scattered across lawns and lined up in driveways. It's not often you'll see bumper to bumper traffic in Acushnet, but these yard sales draw the crowds.

It will be interesting to monitor the success of the Carver town-wide yard sale. If it goes off as expected, we might see more and more town-wide yard sales across other SouthCoast towns. With all of the pent up demand for yard sales, I'd predict the Carver event to be bigger than expected.