County sale event canceled

The Sanders County Yard Sale-ing event is considered by many to be one of the most anticipated events of the year. Given the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak and the fact that Sanders County has no yet-reported cases the event was officially canceled.

According to Robin Hagedorn, with Thompson Falls Main Street Committee, who has been handling the yard sale for the last three years, the event’s main goal is to bring in people from all over the area, and from out of county, drawing business to the local shops and stores of Sanders County. “It brings people into the area and hopefully they like it and come back to visit,” said Hagedorn.

Ordinarily the county-wide yard sale would have been held on June 26-27, but Thompson Falls Main Street does not want to take any chances and possibly bring in any coronavirus cases. However, the organization says that they are planning to host an even bigger event next year.

To grow the event, Thompson Falls Main Street plans to start promoting earlier in the year and to put flags and signs along Montana Highway 200 at the major intersections to bring in more people. They also plan to increase marketing for the event. The group advertises the event outside the county and for many people, even those who love out of state, the event is awaited throughout the year. Some people even rent a hotel for the weekend and come out to explore different sales. There is the ability to pull up a map on one’s phone to find all the addresses of participants along with a list of basic items each one is selling and the times they will be open.

The website is updated at the first of the year so interested parties can follow the progress and stay updated on the sale. Sponsor and application forms can be found on the website and the cost to participate is $20, which covers advertising and getting one’s address on the virtual map. The organization makes no money from this event, and everything earned from entry fees goes into advertising and marketing.

The event has changed hands several times and was originally a grass-roots event. when it was finally picked up by the Sanders County Community Development group it picked up steam and got much more organized.

Some people are still planning on selling during the original times that the sale would have been held, however, according to Hagedorn, “each person needs to make that decision on their own,” explaining that it could bring unwanted COVID-19 cases into the county.