By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Over 9,000 bright yellow maps were printed out for this year’s annual City Wide Yard Sale, and the traffic on Caribou streets during the weekend event was enough for organizers to estimate thousands of people came to Caribou on treasure-finding missions.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Marcel and Gail Richard of Moncton, New Brunswick discuss a potential purchase at a yard sale on May 19.
“If you drove through town, you could see that the City Wide Yard Sale was an absolute success,” said Caribou Area Chamber of Commerce Director Jenny Coon.
The Caribou Chamber puts on the event every year and repeat participants from as far away as New Hampshire and Massachusetts are indicative of the event’s continued success. Approximately 150 yard sales registered to participate in the city wide sale with the Chamber, and the sun shined down on those yard sales all weekend long.
“It’s the first time in years we’ve had weather this beautiful for the entire weekend,” Coon said.
Participants seemed to enjoy themselves, as the Chamber’s Facebook page has been bustling with yard sale-related posts and comments — everyone seems has a story to share, and everyone seems to have found an amazing item or two.
This was the first year Marcel Richards and his wife, Gail Richards came over from Moncton, New Brunswick for the annual yard sale event, and they’d purchased a few treasures by Saturday afternoon.
“It’s neat,” Marcel said. “You never know what you’re going to find.”
Marcel and Gail stayed in Presque Isle for three nights surrounding the yard sale extravaganza; Coon said that yard sale’s draw is a good thing for local businesses.
“It brings people into Caribou,” she said.
The city’s bustling gas stations, restaurants and a surprising amount of street traffic are all the confirmation her assertion needs.
“It’s a great event to bring people to the community, but it’s also a tremendous social event for the people of Caribou,” Coon explained.
