The Lincoln County Publishing Co., which publishes The Lincoln County News, will host the Lincoln County Yard Sale at and in partnership with the Central Lincoln County YMCA in Damariscotta from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, May 5.
One might reasonably ask – and some of us here at the LCN have – why would a publishing company hold a yard sale?
We have plenty of dusty old press equipment in a back room here at the plant on Mills Road in Newcastle, but most of it is too big to fit on a folding table at the Y.
So what’s this all about?
Associate Publisher John Roberts got the idea for the yard sale from another independent weekly newspaper, The Ellsworth American.
The American holds a yard sale every year to fund its Newspapers in Education program, which provides 800 newspapers to Hancock County schools each week, free of charge.
John expects the first year of the Lincoln County Yard Sale to roughly break even, but would like to see it become a charitable endeavor of some kind in the future.
This year, he says, he wants the sale to kick off the yard sale season and give people a little motivation to clean out their basement or garage. This includes himself.
“We’re going to be cleaning out our house, spring cleaning and getting rid of some baby items,” the father of two said.
Residents are responding. So far, organizers have rented 70 tables for the sale. Any more, John says, and they will need to bring more tables to the Y. The maximum capacity is 100 tables. Each table rental costs $20.
The sale is free for shoppers, at least until they see something they “need” to have.
John also said he wanted to generate excitement about the yard sale season for the many LCN readers who watch the yard sale ads religiously week to week.
There’s a reason you see “no early birds” in the yard sale ads – because the fanatical yard salers of Lincoln County would hunt for bargains at 2 a.m. if they thought a rival bargain-hunter might beat them there.
Bargains will abound at the first-ever Lincoln County Yard Sale. The 70 table renters so far report that they will have fishing lures, art and art supplies, grills, craft supplies, photography equipment, knick-knacks, vinyl records, household items, fireplace tools, and many other items among their inventory.
The sale will also give shoppers and sellers alike an opportunity to see the recent renovations to the Y firsthand. They are a sight to behold already, with more improvements every day.
The Y will have overflow parking available at Great Salt Bay Community School, with shuttle service to the Y.
We remember, many years ago, going to the Miles Memorial Hospital League rummage sale at the Y. While the Lincoln County Yard Sale might not reach the same gargantuan proportions, the Y is happy to host the event.
“Since we were excited about partnering with LCN – and offering a community-wide event at the Y – we thought it a great opportunity!” CLC YMCA Membership and Marketing Director Leslie Gomes said.
Lincoln County Publishing and the Y could use a few more volunteers – “luggers and movers” and traffic-control specialists to ensure all runs smoothly. To sign up, go to bit.ly/2vmCy8X.
For more information or to rent a table, contact John at 563-3171 or yardsale@lcnme.com.
