Today's the big day. We'll update this post and add photos, etc. as things happen. Hope to see you out hunting for bargains or running your sale. I'll be at the community space in the lot at Pine/Belmont on and off through the day -- stop by and say hi.

UPDATE:
Thanks everybody for being part of a great day on Capitol Hill. Lots of questions about when we'll do this again. Next year, for sure. But we'll also see if we can't work together to make something happen in the space again this summer. Thanks again to Unpaving Paradise, the People's Parking Lot, Sustainable Capitol Hill and the Howell Collective for being part of the sale. Also much thanks to the Northwest Center and Panache for their awesome tent and umbrellas for the g-sale HQ. Thanks again to Murray Franklin for being incredible hosts and letting us put the lot to use. If you'd like to help support the Cap Hill Garage Sale Day event, we still need some help covering the cost of the $500 insurance policy we needed to utilize the lot. We raised $137...

cafe table and lamp
Originally uploaded by junkoffjohn

We'll have a handful of cancellations and additions, but the Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day roster is now posted for your planning purposes. There are about 80 treasure-filled reasons to come check out the sale on Saturday at locations across the Hill. Learn more at CapitolHillGarageSale.com.

Our community space for 'landless' apartment dwellers (as one participant put it!) and others who wanted to take part in a central rummage sale location will be in the empty lot at Pine and Belmont. We're quite proud of putting the space back to use and filling it with something interesting for at least one day.

Full map for the day is in progress. In the meantime, here are some highlights from the roster:

• Art work, signed and first edition books, mens clothing, Hallmark collectible Christmas ornaments, oak dining set, crystal, pottery, historic Seattle playbills and lots more!
• Furnish your new apartment at our garage sale! We have upholstered chairs, tables of various sizes, a futon frame, a practically new and fully functional Krups espresso machine, functional microwave and toaster oven, lamps (desk, table, floor, and pendant), area rugs, glassware. Plus classic retro men's clothing, external frame backpack, tent, old-school cloth sleeping bag, beer brewing paraphernalia, film projector and folding screen, music and mic stands...and (you guessed it) much more!
• Almost entirely old seltzer bottles, the kind from old 3 stooges movies. I have dozens! They're great bar decor, vases, potential lamps? Hopefully also real seltzer water if you just want a drink...
• We'll have snowboards, clothing, kids bicycles, books, baked goods and more! 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Service Board, a mentoring program for Seattle's youth.
• A disco ball, a Japanese school girl uniform, some other random items :)

There's still time to sign up for the free Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day on June 13th but our newly announced (and pretty darn amazing) community space is filling up. We have more than 60 sales registered at this point across the Hill. You have until June 10th to get on the roster so we can get you on the Garage Sale Day map (which will be available at the Web site and at the Pine community location Saturday). And now you can sign up without leaving this site with the form embedded in this post.

The lot on Pine between Belmont and Summit has been empty since the days in March 2008 when demolition crews knocked down a collection of eclectic but dilapidated neighborhood bars and storefronts to make way for planned redevelopment. The redevelopment never happened, stalled by challenges legal and economic. There is nothing in the lot. The legendary bars that were displaced grow more legendary in the absence.

For one day, this empty condition will change. The 2nd Annual Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale Day is excited to announce that in conjunction with Sustainable Capitol Hill, the Capitol Hill Community Council's Unpaving Paradise open space committee and, most importantly, the People's Parking Lot group, we have secured use of the lot at Pine at Belmont for the community garage sale space on June 13th.

REGISTER FOR CAPITOL HILL GARAGE SALE DAY HERE -- FREE -- FUN -- SUSTAINABLE

The property owner, Pine and Belmont LLC (Murray Franklyn of Bellevue), has granted CH Garage Sale Day permission to use the space as a public 'garage' to for all the apartment dwellers that want to participate on June 13th. It is free to to be part of the sale but registration is due by June 10th so we can organize the space and add all of the sales to the map on capitolhillgaragesale.com.

We hope neighbors will stop by to shop for bargains and enjoy putting the lot to good use. Bring a blanket if you want to enjoy some time in the open space. (Pretend the gravel is sand!). We will also be accepting cash donations to help cover the cost of insurance for the day.

By the way, in futher signs of progress, the sidewalk on Pine near the lot is torn up as the city makes pedestrian and bicycling improvements in the area so plan to enter the lot from Belmont or Summit.

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Just sent this out to the 50 sales registered for the 2nd Annual Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day on June 13th. The purpose of CHGS is to give Capitol Hill a day to rally around to recycle treasures and find bargains. Registration is free. We'll add you to the super useful online map or give you a space at the community sale location. The community location we're working on is taking some extra special effort because it's an extra special place. Stay tuned! Details soon.

Hi all --

Thanks for registering for the big sale day on http://www.capitolhillgaragesale.com/ -- 2nd Annual Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale Day-- June 13

We're working with Sustainable Capitol Hill and Unpaving Paradise to make this year's day even better. A few items of note as we approach June 13th.

 

• Last day to register is June 10th so we have time to put the online map together on the web site so spread the word now
• If you signed up for a space at our community location, apologies for the delayed announcement of the location -- we've been working on something pretty cool and will hopefully be able to pass along specifics by end of this week. It's a central, famous Cap Hill location but can't tell you more yet. You'll also need to supply your own blanket, tarp or small table to display your stuff so start planning! Oh, and no commercial vendors, please. Your participation is at the organizing group's discretion and insurance and licensing requirements prohibit commercial use of the space. So don't even try it! :)
• You're welcome to begin and end your sales at any time you see fit. The community location will 'open' at 10a and shut down at 4p
• We'll keep the e-mails to a dull roar but expect a few more communications as the date approaches
• We're doing a lot of flyering for the event. If you'd like, you can help us out with more
• Please do your own traditional marketing for your sale including street signs, etc so people can find you. The maps help a lot but people still get lost. Plus, signs are half the fun.

The Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day is coming up in two weeks -- if you haven't already, it's time to sign up to make sure your sale makes the map. Garage Sale Day is free -- we're organizing it along with Sustainable Capitol Hill and the Capitol Hill Community Council's Unpaving Paradise open spaces group to give people a day to rally around to hold garage, yard, apartment, sidewalk, etc. sales across the Hill.

Here's how it works:

• The big day is Saturday June 13
• People register (free!) and add their info to the list
• We add each sale to a Google map
• If you need a space, we're arranging a central Hill location for public sales (location to be announced next week)

More than 30 sales are registered at this point. Here's a preview of some of the highlights people have told us about:

• The building is going to flood out on the the sidewalk as we bring out the goods, featuring a great plant sale, LP's, clothing, fun art and jewelry.  We do a yearly sale that is very well attended and will make it a little...

We've got a half dozen sales signed up so far for the big day on June 13. You should join the fun. Add your sale to the list today -- you can either host your sale wherever on the Hill or sign up for a Garage Sale Day community space table (location to be announced soon!).

Also, if you'd like to help spread the word, please download the flyer and post it!

The date is set and registration is now open for the 2nd annual Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day. Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 13th (sorry PDX Pride! summer is busy time). On the site, you can get more information and register your sale so it will be included on the site and on the CHGS Map.

Last year, the sale got off to a good start minus a few hiccups with coordinating the community spaces. This year, things should be bigger and better as CHS will have help from Sustainable Capitol Hill and the Unpaving Paradise group to make the community garage sale day happen.

Here is the concept:

• A day for Capitol Hill residents to renew and recycle by cleaning out closets and finding treasures
• Sponsors: Sustainable Capitol Hill, Unpaving Paradise project for Summit/John Park, CapitolHillSeattle.com
• Resources we'll provide:
  + http://capitolhillgaragesale.com/
  + online map of locations
  + power pole flyering
  + community space for apartment dwellers etc. (to be announced!)
  + green delivery (hopefully!)
  + your...

Last year's Capitol Hill Garage Sale was a modest success with some first-time lessons.

Good stuff:

• There were about 20 sales across the Hill.
• Organization was light and simple. Framework consisted of three basic items: a date to rally around, a community map and a web site to unite them all.
• People cleaned out their closets and found some treasures.

Bad stuff:

• Organizing the community spaces took a lot of work.
• One of the community spaces let us down.

This year, we're expanding our horizons while still keeping things simple. CHS is talking with Sustainable Capitol Hill about co-organizing the 2009 event. Basic framework will remain the same but having more people involved will make things like the community space actually work this year. Hopefully.

Still working out a few details -- but we're hoping to gel on date soon. CHS' unilateral suggested date is Saturday, June 13th. Share your thoughts and ideas on that and the rest below. Oh, and if you can't wait for June, you can always put the new...

Remember the boyfriend and girlfriend who were breaking up and used Capitol Hill Community Garage Sale Day as a way to rid themselves of shared possesions? Here's how it went from neighbor Amanda:

It went pretty well. We put up broken heart signs and sold &/or gave away most of our stuff. Most people that stopped by had CHS maps. Sunday we tried it again and didnt have nearly as many people.

Thanks for organizing at the perfect time. It turned a sad situation into a really fun event for the both of us!

Good to hear. That's a nice way to put a bow on the whole event and a life lesson: always have a map when breaking up.