These Mainers spend their Saturdays shopping in stranger’s yards
Maine’s Summer Yard‑Sale Fever: From Wheat Pennies to Indoor Barn Bargains
When the temperature rises, the state’s driveways, church parking lots and barns open up into a maze of tables and haggling. This weekend in August, a handful of Maine residents turned their extra clutter into a treasure‑hunt for neighbors, collectors and bargain‑hunters alike.
A Family’s Legacy of “Wicked Maine Yard Sale”
At 48 Weymouth Street in Brunswick, the Gagne family—Catherine, her sisters Chrissie and Charlene, and their mother—ran a yard sale that has been a yearly tradition for more than two decades. The three families set up in the yard of Catherine’s house, with each of the women taking a corner and memorizing the prices of their items. “We consider ourselves veteran yard‑sale people,” said Chrissie Gagne. “We’ve been doing it for about 20 years. The key is reasonable prices and bargaining.”
The sale, which opened officially at 9 a.m. but drew shoppers at 8:15 a.m., attracted a mix of vintage items, home goods and even a life‑size nutcracker that lit up and sang when displayed. “The guy who bought it was as happy as can be,” said Jody Kenneybrew of Lewiston, who had just purchased the nutcracker from Catherine and plans to take it back to North Carolina.
Chrissie added that all that’s needed to draw people in is a neon sign that reads “48 Weymouth.” The Gagnes keep their sales informal, often lowering the price for bulk buyers. The last sale brought the family over $700 in combined proceeds, with funds going to the 21‑year‑old Kallie Gagne’s college fund.
A Collector’s Quick Turnaround
Terry Cummings‑Blodgett, a 57‑year‑old resident of Brunswick, began her own yard sale on Saturday morning with a mix of family heirlooms, including her late grandfather’s trunk and a bullhorn rack. The most prized item was a silver box of wheat and Indian‑head pennies she had been collecting since age four. She had set the price at $50, insisting, “If people think they’re getting them for anything less, they’re not.”
Within 45 minutes, however, a coin enthusiast from Topsham, Charlie Stevens, came by and offered to buy the entire lot for half the asking price. Cummings‑Blodgett was willing to accept the offer, but since Stevens was not interested in the penny box, she removed the old label and rewrote it as $5. “The guy who bought them is as happy as can be to have them,” she said, confident that he would take good care of them.
The Church Sale in Gorham
A community yard sale hosted by the Cressey Road Christian Church in Gorham saw a packed parking lot by 8:30 a.m. Pastor Joseph Saunders noted the crowd “tripping over each other” as shoppers rushed to find early bargains. The church charges a fee for each table and table space, but this year the event proved to be easier for the church to run and profitable for participants.
Saunders sold a pair of snowshoes he had collected in the military, and many of his tools were listed at $1, with a willingness to go lower. “We’ve had a lot of donated items in previous years, but this has been a lot more successful,” he said. Among the attendees was Christianne Wolfson of Dayton, who bought a single table. Wolfson had two hamster cages shaped like a firetruck and a dinosaur to sell, hoping to make $40, but said, “I didn’t need the hamster to start with.”
A Trend of Upcycling and Social Shopping
Angella Webb of Sanford is a regular at yard and estate sales with her fiancé, looking for items she can resell locally or online. Webb’s own yard‑sale table in Sanford sells items ranging from ceramic jars to vintage magazines, many of which she refurbished for a profit. “The rising cost of living in Maine has made people want to find old stuff for cheap and make it new,” Webb said. “The younger generation is really into reusing items that they’ve found and making them their own style.”
In Kennebunkport, 4,000‑square‑foot Rockin’ Horse Farm’s indoor yard sale attracted shoppers to a barn packed with plates, picture frames, purses and lamps. Owner Vincent Thelin, who has lived there for 30 years, is putting the property on the market and hosting multiple sales this summer. Diane Emery, a longtime yard‑sale enthusiast, said that when a sign goes up, neighbors know to come by and that “there’s a whole bunch of us.” Her favorite find is birdhouses, which she collects for her garden.
The Community Spirit
Whether it’s a family of three, a church congregation or a single homeowner, Maine residents keep the tradition of yard‑sale weekends alive. From the Gagne sisters’ “Wicked Maine Yard Sale” to Cummings‑Blodgett’s wheat‑penny exchange, the state’s driveways, churches and barns remain hubs of community interaction, thrift and a sense that a well‑priced item can bring joy to anyone who finds it.
