By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
The first Hays citywide garage sale is scheduled for this weekend and the community has embraced the event, with sales planned across the community.
Event organizer Laurie Mortinger said she wanted to organize the event in Hays after seeing successful events elsewhere.
“I know a lot of people that go to garage sales, and a lot of people that have them, and we thought we go out of town, and we go to those sales all the time in the surrounding communities they are kind of fun,” she said. “You take a day and go out and eat with the girls, goof off and garage sale. It is just a blast so I said ‘Let’s do it in Hays.’ ”
RELATED: Check out a listing of garage sales in the Hays area, including a map
After asking around, she found others in the community were interested, so she began planning.
“Hays never gets one going, so we got a few people together that wanted to have a sale and we picked out some dates and we said ‘Let’s do it,’ ” Mortinger said.
And now the event that started as a simple idea has gained a lot of traction in the community.
“I think we have had a pretty good response this year, so far I think there is over 70 in Hays,” she said.
And with the significant interest, Mortinger said she hopes the event will continue every year.
“That’s the goal, to continue to do it,” she said.
With so many people registering their sales, Mortinger said there are several places to get a listing of all the sales.
Flyers are currently being printed that should be available Thursday at the Hays visitor center, 2700 Vine; Kwik Shop, 1301 Vine; and Love’s, 2500 Vine.
Northwestern Printers, 114 W. Ninth, donated the printing of the flyers, Mortinger said, and a friend donated the paper.
“So we didn’t have to charge anybody to do the flyers,” she said. “That was very nice of them. We want to thank them.”
She hopes the flyers can be continued for future events.
“Sometimes when you get into printing you have to start paying for those things unless we could find a sponsor,” Mortinger said. “Hopefully we will continue to be able to get somebody to sponsor us, or help us out, so we won’t have to charge people to advertise it.”
Mortinger said there are also sales planned that missed the printing deadline that can be found online.
Hayspost will have a map of the available sales and a Facebook page for Hays garage sales will have listings, including sales that will go past the citywide sale times and days.
Those online listings will also provide specific items for sale.
While the citywide sale is a prime opportunity to find deals or unload some unwanted items, some are using the day to fundraise for community organizations.
“I think that is great,” Mortinger said, noting she was aware of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Ellis County Cancer Council were holding sales as fundraisers.
Mortinger said she hopes the event is a positive experience for the community and offered advice to participants.
“Get everybody you know and go out and have fun,” she said. “If you want to go and have a garage sale, let somebody watch your booth and you can go garage selling and come back.”
The citywide sale is scheduled for Friday from 8 a.m. to dark and Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
A map of the registered sales can be found by clicking here.