Donald
Teuma-CastellettI
NORWAY BAY July 8, 2017
Last Saturday saw the return of the Great Norway Bay Garage Sale, when the streets in the community are turned into vendor stalls and many residents set up shop.
Customers, many of who were also Norway Bay residents, milled from stand to stand searching out the next big deal on everything from furniture to entertainment.
One stand, set up at the corner of White Avenue and Second Line, saw all sorts of knick knacks, books, movies and the like on display. As customers came and went, the owner, Diane Perreault, explained that she took part in order to raise money for someone else.
Every year, she participates in the sale to raise money for a sick woman and donates whatever items are leftover to a thrift store.
Perreault considers her spot to be an awesome one for the sale, as its further away from the rest of the shops, but still gets a lot of traffic. This was evident as three vehicles rolled up in the few minutes spent there, browsing the variety of items available.
Further down, closer to the water and along River Road, a smaller stand displayed a few wares of different sorts. Speaking to one of the vendors there, Grant Woolsey spoke of a big garage sale that his father used to put on in the community, much longer before Saturday’s sale had been a thing.
“My dad started running garage sales [benefitting] the Special Olympics,” said Woolsey.
Starting around 1973, it was a popular sale that everybody in the area knew about, raising a significant donation for the Olympic organization.
And though his shop is much smaller than years past has seen on the property, he still came out with a $12 profit by the end of it.
Another shop further down, featuring a lot of pink and brightly-coloured items, garnered much attention amongst young girls in the area.
That’s because Carina and Sophie Harb, two sisters from Ottawa, were selling off their old toys from when they were young kids, in an attempt to clear out their basement.
With Carina holding down the fort, she said they saw a lot of their product moving pretty well.
“It’s been really good, we’ve sold most of our toys and books,” said Carina.
Just past noon, they had already made $60, and with the sale scheduled to run through till 3 p.m., there was lots of opportunity yet to keep the cash rolling in.
Although, with the usual clouds and darkness experienced this summer, many vendors packed up shop before 1 p.m.
“I think the weather has put it off,” said Woolsey, citing low customer turnout compared to past years.
“Summer is three weeks late, so people are just starting to get going,” said Dean Shantz, another salesman down in the bay.
