Lilburn Garage Sale Succeeds

Hundreds of residents from Lilburn and surrounding communities came out to support, peruse and do a bit of shopping at the Lilburn Annual Garage Sale Saturday.

Dozens of vendors arrived at 8 a.m. or earlier Saturday to set up shop for the event's 9 a.m. debut in a large parking lot in  Old Town. Dressers, blouses, comic books, bar stools, garden flowers, shoes, cell phones and fur coats were just a few of the different items up for purchase in this year's sale, and they were all a bargain. As the first truly good-weather weekend of the year, big crowds were expected, and they came. 

"They couldn't have picked a more perfect day," said vendor Joe Patula, who was there with his wife, Robin. Joe Patula explained that he has had garage sales in his Lawrenceville neighborhood before, but they've been unsuccessful. So when he heard about the one in Lilburn this year, he decided to grab a spot, making it his first time ever at the annual event. "It's been really good. And we've been making money, which is even better. ... We'll probably come back." 

Like the Patulas, many vendors were not only from outside of Lilburn, but it was their first year here, too. Kathy Wilson of Snellville took the vendor spot next to the Patulas with items such as oil paintings done by her mother, a toaster and mason jars. Wilson agreed that she loves the idea of a community garage sale because vendors get more traffic for their goods. "It's better access to everything," Wilson said.

Ms. Easton of Loganville, who had items such as glasswares, candlesticks and books, said she enjoyed the garage sale as a vendor, too. "This is my first year," she said. "I saw it advertised in The [Atlanta Journal-Constitution], so I decided to do it. Now I might do it every year!"

Many items at the garage sale were homemade, too. In addition to her different knickknacks, vendor Ann Fletcher also sold items from her business, Stampin Up, which makes artsy, handmade greeting cards. One creative item that a vendor had was homemade magnets, made out of bottle caps and decorated with miniature Hello Kitty, Georgia Tech and other cute designs (the writer of this article picked up one designed with a logo from "True Blood," the HBO vampire series). 

Even a non-profit organization called New Beginnings from Ashe County, N. C., came down to Lilburn to raise money for helping children in foster care with clothes, food, toys and a place to stay. Run by a group of women, the organization's booth was filled with glass bottles that had Christmas lights inside, used as decorations.  

As with garage sales in general, many showed up early to get first dibs on the best items. The Patulas were able to sell their air hockey table, which was one of their largest items, and many others had sold their furniture in minutes. One vendor was constantly slammed because they had a number of unopened kids' toys up for sale, and passersby were eating them up.

Customers were still coming into the lot after noon to see what items were still up for sale. As many left for the day, they carried bags stuffed with goodies to their cars and seemed to be content with their treasures. 

There were definitely some steals at this garage sale. Make sure to check out the photos to see what you may have missed at this Saturday's event in Old Town.