Come Sale Away

A bust made from cigarette butts collected on a patio and a set of snorkels and flippers are among the offerings on this Saturday morning, just as the heat of the season finally begins to arrive in the city.

The annual garage sale is a summer rite of passage for many locals. Drivers on weekend errands find themselves following bright, hand-lettered signs into a sea of breadmakers and bicycles, boots and baking dishes. From Memorial Day through the turning of the leaves, every weekend sees neon cardboard signs taped to boxes and phone poles. Craigslist is plump with planned events, and even newspaper classified ad sections call out the locations. Why go to Wal-Mart when there's all this?

For sisters Juanita Lovato and Irene Angel and their families, it's more of a good time than a chore.

Lovato's house on Calle Princess Juana in Bellamah has been the location for sales for the last five years, she says. "This neighborhood is full of garage sales. They know if they bring it here, it sells. So I say, pack it in, pack it out."

While Lovato arranges a collection of CDs by Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Mel Tormé on a table, her nephew's wife, Vanessa Angel, is busy unpacking bags of clothing. She hangs several white lacy dresses from part of the garage door.

"These are my daughters' First Communion dresses. They are never going to wear them again," she says. Up next are more one-and-done dresses, this time strappy and brightly colored numbers from homecoming dances.

"I've got three kids, and they grow every year, so 90 percent of my stuff is clothes. This year, we had six bags of clothes and coats, and I'll probably leave with about one or two bags, and then I just take it to one of the thrift stores," she says, noting her kids get to use the sale money on summer activities.

Vanessa Angel says the family's annual sale works great because she and her mother, Irene, both live out of town off Hwy. 14, where not as many people will travel for bargain shopping.

Plus, she adds, "They are better done in a group. It's more social."

Just about then, Lovato locates something that makes her laugh. Raising a yellow book over her head, she calls out, "Here's The Flat Belly Diet. I bought it from Prevention. Guess what? I'm not going to use it!"

A few minutes later, she's lining up several purses.

"This one is Joan Rivers," she says, pointing to a squarish leopard print bag. "See what you find?"

Juleann Martinez and her husband, David Chapman, aren't just having one sale, though. They plan to set up shop outside of their Casa Solana driveway every weekend this month and in July. With a shade structure erected over several wooden shelves, it seems like a good idea.

"You know what garage sales are? They are the ultimate recycling," says Chapman, after taking a few dollars for one of his son's unused National Guard uniforms.

Cruz Bencomo bought the clothes with the intention of taking them on a future hunting trip with his son, he explains as he tries on a silver ring. Bencomo says he and his brother, visiting him from Mexico, were cruising sales on their way to work. After that purchase, they popped up on the other side of town a few hours later in a different driveway, still browsing, with no great sense of urgency.

"When we see a sign, we stop," he says. "Mostly we are looking for tools."

Checking out weekend sales takes shoppers down streets they'd otherwise completely miss. There's also the fun of meeting new people, seeing what they've accumulated and imagining some of it in your world.

Santa Fe Reporter