JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
On Saturday, October 4, the city of South Pittsburg was bustling with its large yearly yard sale, where vendors sold various wares across each corner of historic Cedar Avenue.
South Pittsburg’s citywide yard sale was a conglomerate of residents selling off items of all kinds to those exploring the streets and browsing the abundance of clothing and collectibles on display. Rebecca Gas, a local resident and participant, explained the yard sale has been an ongoing event for many years in the community, originally being much larger and having more vendors spread out across Cedar Avenue. However, due to a lack of advertisement from previous local administrations, the number of visitors over time dwindled. But this year’s event did receive an uptick in visitation, as the current Board of Mayor & Commissioners recently advertised this year’s sale, helping draw more attention to the event.
“It gets the community involved and it gets people into our community,” said Gas.
Vendors who participated were spread apart in several sections of downtown, with wares ranging from clothing and decorations, to hand done crochet blankets as well as collectibles themed from some of the biggest names in Nascar and baseball. One of the vendors who participated were members of Bright Beginnings, a daycare/preschool based at First Baptist Church in South Pittsburg. Bright Beginnings hosted a bake sale during the event, selling an array of desserts for visitors to purchase. According to Bright Beginnings Director Darcy Bridgeman, the bake sale also served as a fundraiser for the preschool, with all proceeds going directly towards the school’s ongoing efforts to replace a saucer swing set at its playground.
Additional vendors also included Courtney Lecrae and Paula Hill, who have both been participants of the yard sale for over five years. Their wares included a variety of clothing as well as electronics and kitchenware. Lecrae explained how she and Hill strive to reach out to all audiences, with the duo having repeat customers each year. Both have also set up shop closer to the downtown by the Hooch building to attract new customers during smaller visitations, as they originally sold products towards the northern end of downtown on Cedar Avenue until visitations over time slowed down.
“It’s gotten a little smaller as the years have progressed, and so we come to the middle area now,” explained Lecrae.
This year’s citywide yard sale was an overall success for the community, with residents hoping to have the yard sale return to its former glory going forward .