Yard Sale

Easton -- Linda Homan is a woman on a mission."We're late," she calls cheerfully from her car.It's only a little after 7 o'clock on this humid Saturday morning, but Linda is pumped. Both she and her husband, Bob, are dressed for summertime action -- shorts, T-shirts and, above all, comfortable shoes. We two late arrivals join them."Spring and fall are the best seasons; the weather's better. But, you still want to get there early," Linda murmurs as she drives onto a residential street in this Talbot County town.

MOUNT AIRY Elementary School's PTA will hold a Kids Yard Sale from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. tomorrow at the school at South Main Street and Watersville Road.This annual fund-raiser benefits activities and programs sponsored by Mount Airy Elementary PTA."This is one of our largest fund-raising activities for the year, next to our dinner auction coming up in November," says chairwoman Melany Wolfe of Mount Airy. "It's a great opportunity for the community to help our kids by helping the PTA."Spaces are $10 in advance and $12 the day of the yard sale.

When Mary Blake Foster held a yard sale two years ago, th first customer arrived at 4:30 a.m."I thought it was a burglar," the Roland Park homeowner says. "I let our dog out on him."Obviously times have changed since the '60s, when yard and garage sales first began to take off. Until then, says antiques and collectibles guru Terry Kovel, if people saw you in a yard-sale line, they thought you must have lost your job and gone on unemployment.Then in the '60s, "Collecting became a national sport," Kovel says.

Party planners decided to go native for the Associated Italian American Charities' 52nd Annual Donor Dinner Dance. Everything had an Italian flavor, from the decorations, music and family-style Italian dinner to the theme of the evening, the "Joy of Family."Dr. Michael G. Dana was chairman and toastmaster of the evening, which kept him busy introducing the VIPs. This year's honorees were Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, internationally renowned director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, who received the Thomas J. D'Alesandro Jr. Award; Thomas J. Iacoboni, a Maryland contractor and past president of the Associated, who was given the Dr. Frank C. Marino Award; and retired Orphans Court Judge Francis J. Valle, who received the Distinguished Service Award.

WITH THE purchase of a $13,000 chairlift as its goal, a group of friends has organized an auction to benefit the Derek Taylor Trust Fund.Community organizations, businesses and residents have gotten together and donated everything needed to make the fund-raiser successful, including food, desserts, services, and items to be auctioned.The auction will be at 6 p.m. April 12 at Mount Airy Elementary School, 405 S. Main St.Derek Taylor is a 1996 South Carroll High School graduate, who was severely injured in a diving accident in August while working a summer job as a lifeguard.

TAKE ADVANTAGE of the discount offered by the Performing Arts Association of Linthicum for the 1997-1998 season by subscribing now. Each subscription purchased by May 31 will cost $20. After that, the cost goes to $23.Subscribers can look forward to another year of quality performances. The concerts are in the North County High School auditorium, which is accessible to the disabled and has assistance for the hearing-impaired.Performances in the coming season begin with four members of the Annapolis Opera singing popular arias and duets in September.

A HALLOWEEN tradition in Pasadena has taken a hiatus this year. Because of a lack of volunteers, the Downs Park Halloween Haunted Trail, scheduled for the evening of Oct. 26, has been canceled.Park Superintendent Rick Holt reported that preparations for the event were not coming together."The Haunted Trail had been a tradition for the past 14 years," he said. "We regret having to cancel, but we felt we just didn't have enough volunteers involved to put on a quality event."But all is not lost.

I'VE NEVER met parents who didn't think that their baby was the most adorable they had ever seen. Because parents tend to be just a little partial in this regard, the community will have a chance to decide which area baby is the most photogenic.Proud parents and grandparents are encouraged to start snapping photos of their special baby for the Mount Airy Area Jaycees Baby Photo Contest. The contest will be held during Mount Airy Fall Festival, Oct. 5 and 6.Most years, the baby photo display area at the fall festival is a hub of activity, surrounded by admiring parents and festival-goers with their selections as to which baby is their favorite for first place.

RECENTLY, MY NEIGHBORHOOD held its first yard sale of the season, during which my wife and I made a whopping $24.33 and got an up-close-and-personal look at capitalism gone amok.The beauty of yard sales is the naked opportunism of it all: You're trying to get rid of your junk. And you're hoping someone's dumb enough to give you money for it.And junk is mostly what it is, of course. Let's face it, you never see anyone selling a nice, four-posted canopy bed or polished wood secretary.Instead, what they're trying to get rid of are those pictures of the poker-playing dogs that they bought at Daytona Beach 15 years ago, when they had half a load on.Or they're trying to unload the Tahitian death masks and electric torches they bought that summer when they decided to try a Polynesian motif in their basement rec room, only it turned out looking more like a Sizzler's than Trader Vic's.

One consequence of Carroll County's rapid population growth is an increasing number of children signing up to play Little League baseball, which is why Westminster Optimist Club is trying to raise $80,000 for its baseball program this year, up from $65,000 last year.The club planned to sponsor a "Biggest Yard Sale Ever" Sunday at Westminster city playground, but had to cancel late last week because organizers hadn't cleared the event with city government.Westminster's policy bars yard sales from city parks because the parks would be overwhelmed, said Thomas B. Beyard, city director of planning and public works.

A woman whose home was burglarized as she stayed with her daughter was shocked to spot her belongings offered at a neighbor's yard sale, Anne Arundel County police say. The woman recognized an array of her items - including Christmas decorations, Beanie Babies, an Oriental rug and a dresser - being sold by a man who was wearing one of her T-shirts, charging documents say. Police said they found $25,000 worth of her clothes, furnishings and other possessions...

This past weekend, I helped redistribute tons of stuff from dark, dank basements and garages all over Maryland to new dark, dank basements and garages all across the state. The exciting endeavor was by virtue of my participation on a committee organizing a huge indoor yard sale, which benefits our high school's music foundation and its choral, band and orchestral programs. If you've ever cleaned out your own garage or basement, you know it's a job that requires patience and discernment, which both wane as the day wears on. At 10 a.m., you're thinking you ought to hold on to those nesting swan-motif planters.

Planning a yard sale? Here are some tips for how to make it successful: Analyze your inventory. Decide first if a yard sale is right for you. Unique items that are likely to interest a niche audience are best sold online. Don't do it alone. Beforehand, you'll need help moving appliances and furniture and tagging items. During the sale, when there are lulls, you'll have company. When it's busy, it's easy to become overwhelmed if you're alone. Consider advertising. Besides time, date and location, newspaper ads and Internet listings need to emphasize what's different about your sale.

The Wilde Lake High School '77-'78 30th Combined Class Reunion will be held from 7 p.m. to midnight Oct. 27 at Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville. Davis Deejays will provide music. Food and an open bar also are planned. The cost is $55 in advance, if paid by Oct. 15; $65 after that date. Tickets are required for guests and alumni. Checks or money orders should be made out to WLHS Class of '77 and sent to WLHS 30th Reunion, Attention: Greg Stanford, 2817 Thornbrook Road, Ellicott City 21042.

Glenelg High School, 10425 Burntwoods Road, will hold a rededication ceremony in honor of the school's 50th anniversary at 2 p.m. Sept. 16 in the school's auditorium. The ceremony is one of a number of activities scheduled during the next few weeks to mark the school's golden anniversary. Information: 410-313-5528. Lisbon fire company bingo on Sept. 23 Lisbon Volunteer Fire Company will hold a basket bingo at 4 p.m. Sept. 23 in the fire hall, 1330 Woodbine Road, Lisbon. Doors open at 3 p.m. Prizes are Longaberger baskets, pottery and wrought-iron items filled with treats.

A 6-by-6-foot yellowing photograph, mounted on sturdy cardboard, sold three times yesterday at Baltimore's first Heritage and Museum Yard Sale, only to come back from the parking lot each time because it didn't fit in any vehicle. The circa 1940 image of railworkers leaving the Mount Clare shop finally went to a Fells Point antiques dealer, when sale organizers offered to deliver it, rather than return it to storage. "It was a lot of work to get this stuff here, and we don't want to take it back," said Shawn Herne, curator at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and yard sale volunteer.

Here is what India Lowres bought for $23 at a recent community yard sale in an upscale Baltimore neighborhood: One pewter tray. A Wilton Armetale pewter bowl. One wood tray. Christmas ornaments from Japan. A Japanese tea pot. One pair of Japanese platform sandals. One wood bowl. A set of Capiz shell coasters from the Philippines. "That beautiful tray, I bet it would be $75 [in a shop]," says Lowres of the pewter piece, textured to resemble a flat, oval basket with a handle. Pumped up by "the thrill of the hunt," Lowres, director of commencement at the Johns Hopkins University, ventures on Saturday mornings from garage sale to rummage sale to yard sale, where she combs through the discarded possessions of strangers.

It's time to exterminate that flannel shirt collection from the '90s, rid yourself of that, gulp, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam tape (yes, tape) and finally sell that hideous flowery, metallic ring an ex-boyfriend gave you. Yes, sell. Before the weather cools too much, gather your undesirables and have a garage sale. Early fall weekends, when summer's humidity has departed but the sun still warms the air, seems to bring out the bargain shoppers in droves, armed with newspaper classified ad pages and on the hunt for hand-lettered signs tacked to utility poles.

Shirley A. Formwalt is offering mismatched Christmas cards for a quarter. Eileen Cleaver is hoping to attract customers with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies - free to anyone who buys from her varied display of 50-cent ties and 10-cent glasses. And down the street, Douglas "Jake" Jacobs is calling out to people passing his front lawn, piled high with 50-cent T-shirts and $1 jackets: "Welcome to our midlife-crisis sale. Our loss is your gain." The residents of Academy Heights are rallying behind a common cause - clean attics.

Spending a sunny autumn Saturday selling cast-offs from garages, attics and basements might ordinarily hold little appeal for college coeds, but for the right cause, they will forgo the football game for a yard sale. A group of McDaniel College sophomores spent two days hauling, sorting, pricing and showcasing hundreds of items donated for a yard sale to Shepherd's Staff, an outreach ministry to the needy in Carroll County. They are trying to make a difference. The students are part of the local effort participating in Make a Difference Day, a nationwide movement sponsored by USA Weekend and the Points of Light Foundation that encourages neighbors to help one another.