Letter to the Editor: Mile-long yard sale

Dear Editor:

The 15th annual Mile-Long Yard Sale took place in Downey last Saturday, July 11. 

The event was dreamed up in 2001 by several neighbors on Pangborn Avenue as a way for residents of this mile-long street to meet one another. 

Every year since its inception, more than 30 homes along Pangborn Avenue have participated in the Mile-Long Yard Sale, plus a growing number of homes on adjacent streets.

With the sale now well established, it is eagerly anticipated each July. It draws people not only from Downey, but --with the advent of Facebook and other social media to advertise it--from cities as remote as Los Alamitos. Allensworth Realty in Downey has helped promote the sale each year on the monthly calendars it distributes.

The event brings neighbors out of their houses, allowing them a chance to socialize and thus promoting a sense of community. It has become a time to reunite with old friends, and for young entrepreneurs to make a few dollars selling bottled water or sodas, reminiscent of the lemonade stands we kids rigged up back in the 60s. 

Local business people have also gotten into the act by visiting homes during the Mile-Long Sale to promote services such as real estate and solar energy systems. It is a day to enjoy being outside in the sunshine, strolling the mile up and down Pangborn. And when the sale is over, the local Salvation Army store benefits from the many donations of unsold merchandise.

With so much wrong in this world, it is reassuring that people do still know how to get along and enjoy one another, and the Mile-Long Yard Sale is proof of that!

Bonnie Rider
Downey