By David Thielen
Organizers estimate that at least 1,500 people came down to Chipman Avenue in Ponoka on Saturday, July 18 to take part in the Chamber of Commerce Town Wide Garage Sale.
“I did pretty good today,” said Joan Trettler, who came down from Edmonton as a vendor.
“This is my first time in Ponoka and there were lots of people on the street right from 9 a.m., and it was a beautiful day for the garage sale,” she said.
“Last year, I went to one in Vegreville, and it was pouring down rain the entire day and everybody just got soaked.”
“I especially like the setup here, where the street was blocked off, so there were no cars, and everybody could walk around easily,” said Trettler.
There were 26 booths registered for the garage sale arranged along both sides of Chipman Avenue between 50th Street and 51st Street. In addition to the garage sale, several of the businesses in the area took the opportunity to run their own sidewalk sales.
“We did this just to get something happening in the downtown during the month of July,” said Theresa Turner, chair of the garage sale committee for the chamber.
“This was a great sale,” said Mary Lyn Ziefflie, a vendor from Wetaskiwin, “I think this is the first year on Chipman Avenue because the last three years that I have been here it was setup in the parking lot across the street, and this was definitely better. “