Friday, June 6 from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 7 from 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Monday, June 9 from 9:00 until 12:00 FREE DAY

Spring Cleaning = Garage Sale! It's time to think GARAGE SALE, our fundraiser that usually brings in $9,000-$10,000. It will be on June 6-7 & 9, and will again be at the former RCA warehouse behind Cook Pharmica.

Directions: the garage sale location in the old RCA warehouse behind Cook Pharmica LLC located at 1300 Patterson Drive near (west of) the intersection with S. Rogers St.  Enter the driveway at Cook Pharmica, and follow the garage sale signs to the rear of the building. 

From now through June 4, items may be brought to the Museum during open hours (Tuesdays - Saturdays 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.) 

From May 20 through June 5, items may be taken directly to the sale site from  10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.  Call 332-2517 for directions.

Clean out those closets! Give the office a call (332.2517) if you need information or a pick-up. To all those who have donated or helped in the past: a big thank-you, and come share the fun again of Bloomington's biggest garage sale.

Please start gathering up your donations -- we can accept items now through June 5. What YOU contribute determines the success of the sale! Remember to donate merchandise in good condition: no clothing, no mattresses, no console TV's, no outdated computers, no non-working appliances, no broken furniture (unless it's easily repaired). We welcome and can sell just about everything else.

For twenty-six years, the Monroe County Historical Society has conducted the area’s largest garage sale.  This year’s event will cover 14,000 square feet of the former RCA warehouse behind Cook Pharmica LLC.  Items ranging from antique jewelry to water softeners are expected to gross $10,000 in support of the Museum and Genealogy Library in the Monroe County History Center.

Gayle Cook has co-chaired the event since its beginning.  She explains, “We didn’t start small.  The annual event began in 1982 when Monroe Guaranty Insurance Company donated the entire contents of a variety store after a fire insurance settlement. We had to sort and price every item in the store.”  The idle Seward Iron Works factory at 8^th & Rogers provided the first sale site.  In 27 years, seven different locations have hosted the sale including the vacant Tom O’Daniel Ford Showroom where the Convention Center is now.  Cook recalls, “Some of the locations were rather primitive.  The vacant Mace Grocery Building had no running water except for the rain coming in the roof.  We kept moving 30 buckets from place to place as the leaks shifted.”  

Mary Lee Deckard and Kathy McFall have been co-chairs throughout the 26 years.  “What impresses us most, says Deckard, is how much we enjoy and look forward to the garage sale.  It is like keeping a store for a month.  We do all the sorting, cleaning, and displaying.  We have lots of laughs and get to know each other really well.”  This year, 30 History Center volunteers will spend more than 500 hours preparing for the sale. 

“The biggest challenge is getting donated items that are in good condition, says McFall.  Items that sell well are antiques, collectibles, jewelry, furniture and appliances.  We don’t accept clothing, old computers or non-working appliances.”

Each item is pre-tagged before teams of three people walk through the warehouse and write a price on each tag.  Over the course of a week, other volunteers wander through the maze of items and suggest price changes based on their expertise in a particular field.  “We frequently look on eBay for comparables and then price our items lower.  This ensures that antiques are priced acceptably for dealers and bargains are available for individuals,” adds McFall.  What is not sold is donated to local charities or is available free to the public on the “Free Monday” after the sale. 

For more information, contact the History Center at (812) 332-2517, or 812.332.5475.