(First running report of the day is here; Google Map of sales here; printable map here; changes listed here; scroll down for frequent updates & new pix)

Almost halfway through the 6th annual edition of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – already? – and we’ve seen lots of shoppers out and about; we’re making the rounds to get photos but thanks also to those who have sent pix from their sales, like John Smersh from Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor), sale #12 at 2210 California SW in the Admiral District, where they’ve got half-price lighting as well as handbags on sale, and more. A few miles south on California, an individual sale with proceeds going to a cause close to many hearts:

That’s Krista at sale #161, 7717 California SW, where proceeds are going to the Orca Network. More to come – we’re about to hit the road and check out the high-school sites, among others. 11:52 AM: A shot from a bit earlier:

Carla and Brian are at Ginomai, 42nd and Genesee, sale #78, a multi-seller site and also the place where you also will find a West Seattle Christian Church group raising money for a well-drilling trip to Guatemala. On with the photos:

12:13 PM: That’s a photo Stephen shared from sale #159 at 7729 30th SW, where he says there’s still “plenty left to buy” … that’s also the word from our Twitter pal @cheapsleeps on SW Southern near 37th, who has baby-boy clothes galore – that’s sale #165. Meantime, just got a note from a seller with a specific item of interest:

12:20 PM: Natasha says that vanity at sale #187, 8802 35th SW, is $100 “or best offer”! Which reminds us that prices have just been marked down at one of our recent stops:

12:27 PM: Chief Sealth PTSA is raising money, and donating part of the proceeds to several of the clubs at the school, and now that it’s after noon, it’s 2 for 1, as the signs say (thanks to the student volunteers for taking a moment out to be in the photo). They’re sale #128 on the map. Now on to High Point:

12:37 PM: At Bridge Park Retirement Center (WSB sponsor), the big lot sale (#139 on the map) is raising money for Relay for Life of West Seattle (a cancer-fighting fundraising event, coming up June 18-19). Lots of cool stuff.

1 PM: Old beer signs, anybody? That’s part of the unique slate of stuff at Skylark Café and Club (WSB sponsor), sale #59 at 3803 Delridge. The sale is BEHIND Skylark – so pull into the parking lot on its north side and go around back. We’re starting the afternoon report next – (update) here’s the link.

(Need the map? Updated Google version here; make note of the changes for printable version here – and scroll down for newest photos/updates)

8:59 AM: Sale Day begins! – that’s the >Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) courtyard at 4410 California SW, sale #79, where you’ll find dozens of sellers and the Furry Faces Foundation plant sale – be sure to check out the Ginomai courtyard right behind it, too.

9:13 AM: Sale #51 at 3432 39th SW has declared itself “Area 51,” and Will says not only have aliens landed, they’ve got Vikings selling lemonade.

9:31 AM: Thanks to Eric for sending word from Schmitz Park Elementary School, participating in WSCGSD this year for the first time, sale #43 at 5000 SW Spokane – lots of stuff inside and out (and homemade soup while it lasts).

9:42 AM: Michelle at sale #143, 6900 California SW, might feel a little tired already – though we exhort “no earlybirds,” the shoppers in the photo above showed up at 8:30.

9:54 AM: The Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, sale #15 at 5050 SW Grayson, is at a different location this year – some great vintage stuff including the classic magazines with which Shari Sewell posed. Speaking of vintage, check this out …

10:06 AM: Sale #77 at 4160 California SW (just north of the Hotwire/Ginomai multi-seller sites) has vintage radios among other things. That’s Mike, posing with one of his sale items – which is from the ’30s.

10:26 AM: The West Seattle Tool Library scavenger teams are hitting the streets, looking for tools to buy for the soon-to-debut lending library. You are also invited to donate tools at four locations today (including the Alki Bike and Board sale, #19 on your map) – full details here.

10:40 AM: Barbara, Patrick and Carol Jean are having fun in the sun at Sale #89, 4815 1/2 Erskine Way, behind Uptown Espresso in The Junction – we ran by there while checking out the Tool Library folks practically across the street.

11:11 AM: Thanks to Klaire for sending photos from her sale at 4069 28th SW, #74 on the map – there’s barbecue stuff and art too, among other things, besides what you see in the photo. We are also posting standalone updates for every sale we photograph, or get photos sent from, at westseattlegaragesale.com – so if you’re taking time to browse, or still deciding whether to go out! – check there too.

11:16 AM: The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls is one of two groups with sales at 40th and Edmunds in The Junction – they are number #91 on the map. And in the same lot, at #90:

11:25 AM: That’s the official “WTF” table at the Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation sale, also at 40th/Edmunds. Who knows what … etc. … you’ll find? *Now we’re moving on to our second running report of the day; here’s the link.*

WHAT: The 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, coordinated/presented by WSB, 196 sales

WHEN: 9 am-3 pm today

WHERE: All over the peninsula
–Google Map here (already reflects latest changes)
–Printable map here (please make the changes listed here)

SALE PREVIEWS: Besides the listings on the map, find them:
–On the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day Facebook page
–On the WS Blog Facebook page
–On the official West Seattle CGSD website

MULTI-SALE/GROUP SITES: Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), #79; Highland Park Improvement Club, #154; C & P Coffee, #107; Freshy’s Coffee, #29; CoolMom at Cycle U (WSB sponsor), #92; Lincoln Park P-Patch, #147; Hope Lutheran mission trip to New Orleans, #86; West Seattle Christian well-building trip to Guatemala, #78; West Seattle Relay for Life at Bridge Park (WSB sponsor), #139; Amigos de los Americas, #191; Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, #15; Boy Scout Troop 284, #54; Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, #90; International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, #91.

SCHOOL SALE SITES: Schmitz Park Elementary (sale #43). Chief Sealth High School PTSA (sale #128), West Seattle High School Grad Night (sale #34) with a 10 am-2 pm car wash along with their sale; Lincoln Park Co-Op Preschool (sale #131) at Seaview Methodist Church; Alki Co-Op Preschool (sale #38) at Alki UCC Church.

TOOL LIBRARY: Collecting and buying today for the new West Seattle Tool Library – here’s how to be part of it

FOOD: All of our fine West Seattle eateries will be happy to feed you, local or visitor, of course. Also:
–Hot dogs at the Ginomai group sale adjacent to the Hotwire Coffee sale
—West Seattle Thriftway is barbecuing bratwurst starting at 11, proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Many more highlight; the best review we ever heard of Community Garage Sale Day is “we met so many people!” This is a chance to “recycle” what you don’t need AND to meet people. Have a great day and send pictures; we’ll be out and about but there’s no way we can get to more than a fraction of the 200-ish sales in six hours.

Tomorrow’s the day – West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day all over the peninsula, 9 am-3 pm Saturday. Links to the maps are here, along with the newest information about changes (we’ve had one more cancellation because of a family emergency, so PLEASE check this link if you are using the printable map, which we couldn’t update, though the Google Map is up to date). As we mentioned earlier in the week, many local nonprofits are having sales – and some individual sellers are donating their proceeds. But there are three organizations looking for very particular help:

*West Seattle Tool Library: Taking donations at four locations (including Alki Bike and Board‘s sale site, #19 on the map), and also sending scavenger teams out to find tools – this new lending library will open soon. Full location information here.

*WestSide Baby: This organization that helps families around our area has just sent this request:

WestSide Baby is hoping a few good bargain hunters might try to “Shop to Give” tomorrow at the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day sales. Stop by C&P Coffee’s Diaper Drive and receive a free latte with a donation of diapers!!

If you are shopping and want to know what we REALLY need, please check out the list below. If you are having a sale and want to donate your gently used, clean and wonderful left-overs, we’ll be here Saturday 10- 4pm (address below).

While we generally take all children’s items, we must decline toys, furniture items like rocking chairs and changing tables due to space restrictions. Unfortunately, the massive crib recalls of the last year, also mean we cannot accept any cribs without written verification from the owner that the crib has been “recall” cleared.

However, we will take all other children’s clothes, shoes and reusable equipment, including carseats less than 6 years old as long as the owner attaches a note indicating it’s not been in a carseat or washed with harsh chemicals. We especially need the following items if you are shopping:

Clothes by Gender & Size:
Boy/Girl 0-9 mos
Boys 3T – 10 Boys

Other items
Boppy Pillows
Small infant toys/rattles/teethers
Board Books
Carseats < 6 years old Strollers Highchairs Address in White Center: 10032 15th Ave. SW We are just south of the Dollar Store on the back side of White Center Chiropractic.

*Northwest Center: This organization has partnered with West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day even before we started sponsoring it with the 4th annual sale in 2008. If you have leftovers and would like to have them picked up, you can arrange it online through bigbluetruck.org – but better yet, their donation dropoff spot in The Junction will have backup trucks ready if their trucks keep filling up – Edmunds just east of 44th, across from Uptown Espresso, alongside the Chase drive-thru, where you’ll find them every weekend.

More previews ahead – check out the WSCGSD page on Facebook, where more sellers are previewing their sales, and more shoppers are posting about what they’re looking for.

Just one day till the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, our third year to coordinate/present it – the Google Map you see above is the most up-to-date map, with three sales deleted due to emergency last-minute cancellations and one addition because we mistakenly left it off. (If you print out the PDF version, be sure to make the changes – listed here.) Remember that the sales are 9 am-3 pm (except for a handful that stipulated otherwise in their “ad” listings), no earlybirds, please! Today and tonight we’ll publish a few updates with highlights; right now, we wanted to mention the participating schools. Schmitz Park Elementary (sale #43) is participating for the first time – you’ll find their sale on the playground; they’re still accepting donated items to sell, 4-6 pm today and 8-9 am tomorrow at the school’s covered play area. Chief Sealth High School PTSA (sale #128) is participating – proceeds will be split between the PTSA and several student clubs at the school. West Seattle High School Grad Night (sale #34) is raising money with a 10 am-2 pm car wash along with their sale. Lincoln Park Co-Op Preschool (sale #131) has a sale at Seaview Methodist Church, where it has classes. Alki Co-Op Preschool (sale #38) is having a sale too, at Alki UCC Church, its class site. More previews later – and if you’re selling, share yours on the WSCGSD Facebook page! – but most importantly, be sure to browse the map!

Checked The Map yet? Here’s the clickable Google Map version, and here’s the printable PDF version (or a Word doc if you prefer), for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day this Saturday, sales 1-200 (but cross off 105, which had to cancel), all over the peninsula, 9 am-3 pm. So far the weather looks promising! Time for some sneak peeks – first, we have a list from Lora Lewis at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor), which again this year is a big group-sale site (#79 on the map), dozens of sellers in the courtyard (and next door at Ginomai). We’ve published the entire list at the official WSCGSD site. Other group/organization sale sites: Highland Park Improvement Club (sale #154), C & P Coffee (sale #107), CoolMom (sale #92) at Cycle U (WSB sponsor). And another reminder: The West Seattle Tool Library is taking donations at four sites, and sending “scavenger teams” out to buy tools. Full details (and list of locations) here.

**10:53 PM UPDATE – Sale #105 canceled – we’ve taken it off this map; if you’ve printed, please X it out**

Just four days till the 6th annual – and biggest ever – West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day: 200 sales (with hundreds more sellers, thanks to group sale sites, organization/school/business/block sales, etc.)! On Saturday, the Google Map with all the sale sites, numbered 1-200, starting with #1 in the north to #200 in the south, went live (it’s embedded above – here’s the direct link). Just one problem with Google Maps – for something like this, they tend not to print that well. So again this year, we have put together a more packet-like printable map. It’s a 12-page Word doc (6 pages if you print both sides) – with the map cut into sections, with the numbered sales, followed by the list of all 200 “ads” for the sales, in numerical order. (ADDED 1:17 PM: If you’d rather print from a PDF, use this link. Thanks to Karen for helping!) Take note that sellers will be seeing this version for the first time today too, and if anyone sees a major problem (so far so good with the Google version), we will update the map and repost here as well as at westseattlegaragesale.com and at the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day page on Facebook.

One week from today, it’s the sixth annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – this year, 200 sales big and small, all over the peninsula. We promised we’d have the map available by now, and we’re making good on that – you can see the Google Map version, with all 200 sites, by going here. In our experience, the Google Map has never printed too well, though, so we always make a printable version, with a segmented map, and the individual sale “ads” organized #1-#200 – that’s not ready yet, but we’ll link it here when it’s done, as well as on the West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day website and Facebook page. Meantime, you can see each full “ad” by clicking each sale’s number icon on the Google Map. We’ve made the list and more than checked it twice, to borrow a phrase, but if you are a seller and you can’t find your sale, please let us know as soon as possible (garagesale@westseattleblog.com) so we can check into it. Again, this is just a sneak peek – the sales don’t start till 9 am next Saturday (May 8). P.S. Feel free to share this link with friends and relatives all over the region – with 200 sales (including multi-family, block, organization, school, nonprofit BIG sales), there’s plenty of shopping for folks beyond the peninsula to come join “local” shoppers that day too.

Quick updates on the sixth annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, 9 am-3 pm on Saturday, May 8 – one week from tomorrow! For avid preparers who just can’t wait to get The Map, it will be available online no later than 9 pm tomorrow (5/1). Like last year, it’ll be available in two formats: Printable (multipage PDF, with the sales mapped and numbered, north to south, and full text of the short “ads” for each sale) and online Google Map (doesn’t print well, but you can use it to chart your own course – click each sale location and its address pops up with “ad” info). We will have a limited number of pre-printed maps at several locations around the peninsula by Monday, but please save those for shoppers with no access to a printer – the map is designed to be printed on plain ol ‘ 8 1/2 x 11 paper so whatever you DO have access to, it’ll be just fine. As of right now, the almost-final total is projected to be 201 sales (another record), with hundreds more sellers when you add in group-sale sites. In addition to the nonprofits (mentioned in our previous update) that are having their own sales, some individual sellers say they are donating all or part of their proceeds – watch for map listings mentioning the Orca Network, West Seattle Helpline, West Seattle Relay for Life, Northwest Epilepsy Foundation, American Cancer Society, Washington Chapter of the National MS Society (among others). And we want to mention again that the West Seattle Tool Library will be accepting donations at four locations PLUS sending teams out on “scavenger hunts” to buy tools from sales – if you’re not selling, but you have tools you can donate, read about the Tool Library here and drop them off while you’re out on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. LAST NOTE: If you can print the 8 1/2 x 14 official poster and put it up at your workplace, school or business (outside WS? fine! we’re inviting the world!), THANKS – here it is, ready to print!

9 days till the sixth annual edition of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – coming up Saturday, May 8, 9 am-3 pm, all over the peninsula.. We are deep in the throes of mapmaking right now – we start with a Google Map before converting the data into the printed, numbered map, and what you see at left is a screengrab of the peninsula with “only” two-thirds of the sales entered so far – there’s no question, we’re past 200 sales. If you missed out on the three-week registration period (which closed last Thursday), we heard tonight that there are still a few spots at the group-sale site at Highland Park Improvement Club (e-mail hpic1919@gmail.com to inquire) – also you can check with Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) if there’s any room in the Hotwire courtyard/Ginomai parking lot multi-seller site, or at C & P Coffee. If you add all the people participating there to the total, plus the multi-family/group sales, there are at least 400 people selling! Lots of nonprofit fundraisers too – including West Seattle High School Grad Night, Chief Sealth High School PTSA, Lincoln Park P-Patch, CoolMom, Hope Lutheran mission trip, West Seattle Christian well-building trip, West Seattle Relay for Life, Alki and Lincoln Park Co-op Preschools, Amigos de los Americas, Kiwanis Club of West Seattle, Boy Scout Troop 284, Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation, International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, and then there’s the West Seattle Tool Library – accepting donations, and sending “scavenger teams” out to buy tools, instead of selling. The West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day map will be available online by Saturday night; we’ll have a limited number of printed copies for pickup at various locations, hopefully also by Saturday but it depends on how fast we finish it! Meantime, the most important thing to do is to mark your calendar and plan on a fun day. (Note to sellers: Thursday’s the last day we can take you off the map if you have to cancel – e-mail garagesale@westseattleblog.com or call 206-293-6302.)

We’ve tallied up the signups for the sixth annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, coming up in two weeks – Saturday, May 8, 9 am-3 pm – and it’s another record: 200 sales, even though we didn’t offer postal-mail signups this year. On WSCGSD, you’ll find the sales all over the peninsula, on the map that we’ll have available for download (and a limited number of preprinted hard copies, pickup locations TBA) next Saturday – from individual sales, to organizations, to entire blocks, plus locations with multiple participants (Hotwire Coffee [WSB sponsor], C & P Coffee, Highland Park Improvement Club). The soon-to-open West Seattle Tool Library is participating too – but instead of selling, they’ll be accepting tool donations at 4 locations scattered around West Seattle, and also sending teams out on a Tool Library Scavenger Hunt to find and buy tools at participating sales. We’re organizing the list now as we start making the map, and we’re seeing a variety of block and business sales too – some of the many highlights include a block sale at what participants describe as “the neighborhood squished between the West Seattle Bridge and Avalon Way.” We’ll be highlighting many more in our nightly updates between now and sale day – meantime, one thing you can do to help is to make sure your co-workers, friends, relatives, anybody interested OUTSIDE West Seattle knows about the big day too – we’re advertising in regional publications and sending announcements, but nothing beats word of mouth, and you probably know garage-sale lovers who’d be excited to spend the day in shoppers’ paradise. When we finish the official poster in a day or two we’ll post a link here too so you can print one out for posting at work etc. if you can. Thanks! Keep an eye on WSB, as well as westseattlegaragesale.com and the WSCGSD Facebook page, for updates.

Almost 160 sales are now registered for the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, coming up Saturday, May 8th – not one big sale, but many sales, all sizes, all over the peninsula. Final reminders:

*Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) still has a few courtyard spots as of last time we checked, if you don’t have room for your own sale – you can sign up @ Hotwire (free)

*C & P Coffee also is offering space for individual sellers (free) – check directly at the shop

*(added) Highland Park Improvement Club is having a group sale, but charging $20 as an HPIC fundraiser – e-mail hpic1919@gmail.com

*If you’re not selling but want to help another local nonprofit, CoolMom is collecting donated items that they will use in their sale at Cycle University (4550 Fauntleroy) up through Friday 5/7, the day before Sale Day. Here’s their flyer about the donations and sale.

We’re advertising/promoting West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day regionally so that people from around the Sound know this is the place to be to shop on Saturday, May 8th. Want to be part of it? Register and pay online by 11:59 pm tonight, starting here. We expect to have the map available a week in advance – look for details on that shortly.

As of this morning, we’ve passed 120 sales registered for the sixth annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, coming up Saturday, May 8th – not one big sale, but a multitude of sales big AND small, all over the peninsula. It’s the third year that WSB has sponsored/coordinated the sale, and we’ll start making The Map as soon as registration closes late Thursday night (it’ll be available May 1st). A few notes:

*Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) still has a few courtyard spots, if you don’t want to sell at your own place (or don’t have enough room) – you can sign up @ Hotwire (free)

*C & P Coffee also is offering space for individual sellers (free) – we’re checking on their status but you can contact them in the meantime

*(added) Highland Park Improvement Club is offering space too, but charging $20 as an HPIC fundraiser – e-mail hpic1919@gmail.com

*If you have stuff you don’t want to sell but would like to donate to one of the nonprofits that’s participating, we know of at least one: CoolMom is collecting donated items at Cycle University (4550 Fauntleroy; that’s where their sale will be) up through Friday 5/7, the day before Sale Day. CM executive director Terri Glaberson says, “Folks can drop off their loot at Cycle University and place inside the Blue large storage container, which is located on the East side of Cycle University, Fauntleroy side. Here’s their flyer about the donations and sale.

As usual, we’re promoting West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day regionally so that sale-shopping fans know they’re also welcome to come to the peninsula that for one day becomes a garage-saler’s paradise – the ultimate in person-to-person recycling. Want to be part of it? Register and pay online by 11:59 pm Thursday (4/22), starting here. (The form server’s been running a little slow this morning; we appreciate your patience.) Any questions? E-mail our special WSCGSD mailbox, garagesale@westseattleblog.com or call our 24/7 business line, 206-293-6302.

Need gardening supplies, now that the weather’s getting really nice? That’s just some of what you’ll find at the big St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church rummage sale, starting tomorrow. This is a four-day sale – tomorrow and Saturday, then again the following Friday and Saturday (April 23-24), 9 am-3 pm each day, in the parish hall. Church volunteers have been working tirelessly for days to get everything organized. St. John’s is next door to West Seattle High School (map).

That gives us another excuse to mention that the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day is a little more than three weeks away – 9 am-3 pm, Saturday, May 8th. It’s the third year with WSB sponsoring/coordinating the event, and the cool part about it is that WSCGSD is what YOU make of it – as many sales, big and small, around the peninsula, as West Seattleites decide to have! We collect the info and a small fee (depends on whether it’s an individual, group or block sale) to cover mapmaking and promotion – and do our best to tell the world, so that our area is full of happy shoppers and sellers on sale day (and hopefully lots of visitors also stopping for food and beverages in West Seattle’s many fine venues, etc.). Registration runs one more week – we’re shutting it down as of next Thursday night so we can make the map and have it ready for distribution (online and hard copy) a week in advance. You can sign up your sale by going here.

Thanks, garage-sale fans! We now have almost 50 sales on the list for the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, presented/coordinated by WSB, coming up Saturday, May 8, 9 am-3 pm,. If you’re new to this – it’s not one big sale, but instead MANY (close to 200 last year) sales big and small, all over the peninsula. Registration continues till April 22 (then we start mapmaking). Two sites have spaces if you don’t have somewhere to sell your stuff: There’s room for 20 in the Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) courtyard (but hurry! here’s the flyer). Also, C & P Coffee is a group space again this year. If you plan to sell in one of those spots but still want your own “ad” – up to 10 words about your sale – on the map, please register and pay as an individual, noting the group site as your sale address (each of those locations will otherwise simply be on the map as “site with multiple sellers”). Ready to register and be part of a fun day of shopping/selling all over West Seattle? Here’s the form; any questions, e-mail garagesale@westseattleblog.com.

30 sales — from North Admiral to White Center – are on the list so far for the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, coming up Saturday, May 8, 9 am-3 pm, all over the peninsula – not one big sale, but a multitude (close to 200 last year) of sales big and small, transforming West Seattle into a garage-saler’s parade for the day. Registration opened Thursday and continues till April 22, when we start building The Big Map. If you want to sell a few things but don’t have space at your own place for a sale, both Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor) and C & P Coffee are stepping up to offer space again this year – check in with Hotwire or C&P if you’re interested in reserving space there. If you plan to do that, but still want your own “ad” – up to 10 words about your sale – on the map, please register as an individual, noting the group site as your sale address (otherwise, each of those locations will simply be on the map as “site with multiple sellers”). Ready to sign up? Here’s the form; any questions, e-mail garagesale@westseattleblog.com.

Just a quick note to say that we will open registration for West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day at 8 am this Thursday, and it’ll be open for three weeks, till April 22nd. The big day is Saturday, May 8, second Saturday in May as usual, 9 am-3 pm – if you haven’t heard about this before, it’s one day with individual, group, organization sales all over the peninsula – last year we set a record with almost 200! The event was founded in the mid-’00s by a nonprofit called Megawatt; when they disbanded, they looked for someone to take over their most successful creations – we took on West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, and Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association took on Gathering of Neighbors (which is set for November this year). Stand by for full details about WSCGSD registration – just wanted to let you know Thursday’s Day 1. (A few eager garage-salers have already tried to sign up through last year’s form – please don’t, we’ll have a brand-new one Thursday. Thanks!)

Exactly two months from today, it’s the 6th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – the third year that the event, created by gone-but-not-forgotten Megawatt, has been coordinated/presented by us here at WSB. As in previous years, it’s the second Saturday in May, and will run from 9 am-3 pm – so that means May 8, 2010, is the big day this year. We’re not planning any big changes – as in years past, it’s a day for garage/yard/group sales all over the peninsula – it gets bigger every year, and we had almost 200 last year! We will open registration about a month ahead of time, so look for that in early April; you can “fan” the WSCGSD page on Facebook to track things there, and also we’ll once again be updating the separate site at westseattlegaragesale.com (you can go there to browse back through the archive of photos/info from the past two years). Between now and then, a few other garage sale notes:

*You can list a West Seattle or White Center sale FREE any time in the WSB Forums’ Freebies/Deals/Sales (etc.) section

*Two big two-day annual church rummage sales are coming up in West Seattle this Friday and Saturday – Tibbetts United Methodist Church (9-4 Friday, 9-3 Saturday) and West Side Presbyterian Church (9-5 Friday, 9-2 Saturday)

Hours after the selling stopped at the recordsetting 180+ sale sites in the fifth annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, the photos were still rolling in – from Sale #61, Rachel sent that photo of her fiance’ “the human sign” – below, from Sale #88, Janna and Julie‘s sale, we got a photo and the report that “Everyone had so much fun!”

And for some with leftovers, it was off to the Junction dropoff spot for Northwest Center and its “big blue trucks” — we spotted these two, and a third out of view, late in the afternoon:

Another option for leftovers – Nancy Woodland from WestSide Baby sent a request during sale day – which you might be able to help with, even if you were NOT a seller – read it here.

Later, there were the reviews — raves via Facebook and Twitter (see the mentions here). Even people who weren’t planning on being part of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day found themselves pulled in, like Victoria, who wrote on FB:

I heard about this for weeks, but was not planning on selling or buying, until we started driving through the hood. Three hours later, we had a bunch of new (to us) books, lawn chair and dump truck. A very fun diversion.

Here are the links to WSB as-it-happened WSCGSD coverage:
Update #1 (7:59 am through 9:25 am)
Update #2 (9:26 am through 10:47 am)
Update #3 (10:48 am through 12:41 pm)
Update #4 (12:42 pm through 3 pm)

On the official WSCGSD site, westseattlegaragesale.com, we featured individual sales, photo by photo, some we took, some sellers sent. Just go to the site and scroll down to see the pix.

And a few people sent us “found item” notes afterward – we’ve posted them in the WSB Forums in their entirety — if you are missing keys, read this; if you are missing a box with money and children’s sunglasses, read this.

This was our second year as official coordinators of West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, which was created by Megawatt, a community-connection nonprofit; when Megawatt announced in late 2007 that it was disbanding, we asked its leadership if they would consider turning WSCGSD over to us, and to our surprise and delight, they did. We have made a few logistical tweaks in those two years and are interested in your thoughts about anything more for next year – one thing we realized too late, we need to set up a place for prospective sellers and buyers to communicate before sale day – we did suggest fairly late in the game that sellers could come to the WSB Forums and post extra sale info, but that was sort of a stopgap measure. This year, with Twitter and Facebook in the mainstream, we used both – the former more than the latter – to communicate during-the-day sale info (scroll down to read our during-sale “tweets”); what would be helpful next year?

Last but not least, last call for the contests – Deadline to send in your photos (garagesale@westseattleblog.com) is 3 pm Monday – most creative sign, most unusual item bought, most unusual item sold. Each category has a gift certificate prize! Be sure you indicate the sale address, so we know it was related to an official WSCGSD event, and of course include your contact info. We’ll announce winners by Tuesday morning.

Mark your calendar for the 6th annual WSCGSD next year – the second Saturday will be May 8, 2010!