Even Santa has a favorite garage sale

Bazaars and craft fairs abound at this time of year, hosted by churches and community centers all around our area. But this one, which I found out about just recently, is different; it’s not just a chance to buy gifts for others, but it’s especially good opportunity to pick up some holiday items for your own home.

And it is Santa-approved.

The second annual Santa’s Garage Sale, hosted by St. Martin Lutheran Church, will take place this year November 3 to 5. I heard about if from my friend “Santa Jim” Lockwood, a St. Martin parishioner and all-around good guy. (You know him from the frequent appearances he makes in Webster during the holidays, including at White Christmas in the Village.)

Jim sent me a nice long email explaining how this event came to be. He wrote,

It started as light conversation about this time of the year. We were discussing how Christmas was just around the corner and all the stores are putting their Christmas decorations out on display.

A few of us at St. Martin had to admit to having quite a large collection of older Christmas decorations, ornaments, lights, etc. even a few artificial Christmas trees that were tucked away. We also had to admit we didn’t use these decorations anymore as we now have newer ones. These Christmas decorations are usually stored away in attics, basements, closets etc. They always take up valuable storage space and haven’t seen daylight in years.

That’s when we decided to have a holiday-type garage sale and bring a few of our treasured items that we could part with to the sale table. The idea was that hopefully someone else could these long-forgotten decorations and love them as we did.

We did a little bit of online advertising about our sale and asked for donations of Christmas items that the community was willing to part with. We even called it “Santa’s Garage Sale.” The response from the Webster community was overwhelming both in their donations of beautiful treasured decorations and in their attendance and purchase of new / different Christmas items for their homes.

Santa even had a chance to check out the holiday sale and definitely recommends it.

I also heard from Mary Lou, one of the other organizers, who wrote,

To me,  the best thing about this sale is giving people a chance to celebrate Christmas without having to spend a lot of money. Given rising inflation,  I think even more people will find their finances very tight this Christmas. It is a joy to watch parents able to shop for their kids and have a great selection of toys to pick from.   

Last year we even had big wooden playsets, like kitchens and doll houses. Also,  we were fortunate to have several artificial Christmas trees, and they were probably our most popular item.

Donations for the sale will be gratefully accepted at the church, 813 Bay Rd., on Saturday Oct. 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This is a great chance to get rid of some of those older Christmas decorations you don’t use anymore. So check your attics, basements and other hidden spaces for items that can be enjoyed again by young and old. They’re also accepting Halloween and Thanksgiving items.

This year’s sale will take place at St. Martin Lutheran Church on Thursday and Friday Nov. 3 and 4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The church is located at 813 Bay Rd., Webster.

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(posted 10/23/2022)

Tags: Missy Rosenberry, Santa's Garage Sale, St. Martin Lutheran Church, Webster NY