When Bridgeport City Clerk Andrea Kerr began putting together the first-ever “City-Wide Yard Sale” event last year, she figured there’d be some interest. What she didn’t know was just how much.

 

“The entire thing came about because I would get several calls asking about whether the city had such an event, but the calls were almost always from people outside of Bridgeport,” said Kerr. “When I told them we did not, they were usually surprised because so many other communities were doing the same. I knew there was outside interest, but I didn’t know there’d be so much interest in Bridgeport.

 

“(Council member) Diana Marra was also asked about it a bit as well and we talked about doing it,” Kerr continued. “We put our heads together and came up with the date last year and it ended up exceeding our expectation in terms of those showing up and those interested.”

 

As it turned out, there was a lot of interest within Bridgeport itself. More than 100 homes registered for the sale. Kerr said dozens more participated that didn’t register and that the event easily drew more than a thousand people to the city. The event was such a success that the second one has been scheduled.

 

According to Kerr, the Second Annual City of Bridgeport Community Yard Sale will take place on Saturday, August 6. She said the hours will be expanded from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

“Last year was a shorter period of time that we advertised for, but this year we’re going to make it last longer. Certainly, if anyone wants to start before that or continue after that is up to them, but that’s the hours that will be advertised,” said Kerr.

 

On Monday, Kerr said the process of people registering with the city for the event begins. All someone has to do is contact Kerr via email with your address at akerr@bridgeportwv.com and it will be added to the list. And the list isn’t being kept to keep so “big brother” can keep tabs on you.

 

“We take those addresses and pinpoint it on a map that will be distributed to people who come to the city, or for that matter anyone living in the city, that wants to see where the yard sales are located,” said Kerr. “We’ll put the flyers for pickup at the Benedum Civic Center, outside of city hall and the library and we’ll likely have a place where it can be printed on the city’s Web site and on Connect-Bridgeport.”

 

For the most part, Kerr said the only real issue that came up were complaints about individuals parking in places where they shouldn’t have been and either blocking access to roadways or blocking people in. She said she’s hoping the extended hours may alleviate some of that this year.

 

“The main thing we need is for people to be courteous of others when they are looking for a place to park,” said Kerr. “Hopefully, that will be the case this year.”

 

Individuals, as mentioned, can begin to register Monday. The registration period will be a lengthy one. Kerr said the cutoff date will be July 22.

 

“That will give me time to put the map together and get it printed prior to the event,” said Kerr. “Considering people have already been calling me about it, I think we’ll have another big turnout.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows signs from last year's event, while Andrea Kerr is shown working on last year's map that was made available at various city locations that showed where registered participants were holding their sales.