CAYUGA - Nestled on the shore of Cayuga Lake, right at the heart of Route 90, the village of Cayuga is generally a quiet little place.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Marilyn Young, left, of Weedsport, sits back as people browse during the Route 90 Garage Sale in Cayuga Saturday morning. By Young's observations, there were fewer buyers and sellers this year than in years past. “Maybe it's the gas prices,” she said.
Marilyn Young, left, of Weedsport, sits back as people browse during the Route 90 Garage Sale in Cayuga Saturday morning. By Young's observations, there were fewer buyers and sellers this year than in years past. “Maybe it's the gas prices,” she said.
But by 9 a.m. of Saturday the road was packed as far as the eye could see with cars, some from as far away as Pennsylvania and Virginia, parked bumper to bumper all along the vast stretch of Route 90.
These cars and all the people lining the road were proof that there is no suppressing a good idea.
Saturday marked the kickoff of the 22nd annual Route 90 Garage Sale, stretching more than 50 miles along the scenic roadway from Montezuma to Homer.
What began as an idea to find a way to entice visitors to the east side of Cayuga Lake, has since blossomed and taken on a life all its own.
Connie Tallcot remembers talking with her friend Barb Noden about ways to attract attention to the east side of the lake when, they hit on what has turned out to be a momentous idea.
“The west side has the wine trails,” Tallcot said. “We did a little bit of everything over the years, a treasure hunt, a road rally. And we were thinking about what else we could do and we thought about it and realized everyone loves a garage sale, so maybe we should do something like that.”
From those humble beginning of two friends talking, the sale has grown into an entity unto itself.
“It has really grown and taken on a life of its own,” Tallcot said. “People just know that it is time to have the sale, when the last full weekend in July rolls around people are ready. It has really grown into something people look forward to and people will come from all over to be here for this. It was even in Country Living magazine. People will plan their vacations around being here for this.”
All along the route residents went the extra mile, setting up tables and tents, selling clothing, cars, books, DVDs, and even food and water.
Sherry Casbohm and her daughter Dawn, of Cayuga, have been taking part in the sale for as long as either can remember.
“We've been doing this for at least the last 15 years,” Casbohm said. “We started doing this when she (Dawn) was really little and we do it pretty much every year.”
Casbohm said that the sale, like any good garage sale, offers something to both the seller as well as the shopper.
“It is a lot of fun,” Casbohm said. “People come out here and look around and finding some nice things and have a good time. But it is fun for us too and we get to clean out our basements and attics and this gives us a good reason to do that.”
An idea a fellow seller had taken to heart.
Chris Carter, of Cayuga, said that she has been a life-long resident and has always enjoyed the sale, but this marked her first year taking part.
“My mother retired,” Carter said. “So we thought this would be a good way to sell some of her things while she is off on vacation. But I've always enjoyed the whole sale and walking around and seeing everybody and everything, it is a lot of fun.”
The sale is truly somewhere between a treasure hunt, with 50 miles of sale items, spanning virtually everything and anything one could imagine, shoppers never know what they might find.
“I come up for this pretty much every year,” said Ronald Shaw. of Homer. “You've got to be patient and willing to look and do some walking, but you never know what you might find, there is always great stuff here. One of these days I'm going to make it from one end of this sale to other.”
And along the way, aside form the endless sales; there are a few other things that are not to be missed.
For Carrie Ward, a former Cayuga resident, who now calls Rochester home, the homemade doughnuts at the Cayuga Fire Department are worth the trip back home.
“They are just great,” Ward said. “They are all fried and everything. They are just great. When I was little I used to look so forward to those. That is one of the best parts of all of this.”
If you go
What: 50-mile long garage sale
When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today
Where: Route 90 between Montezuma and Homer
These cars and all the people lining the road were proof that there is no suppressing a good idea.
Saturday marked the kickoff of the 22nd annual Route 90 Garage Sale, stretching more than 50 miles along the scenic roadway from Montezuma to Homer.
What began as an idea to find a way to entice visitors to the east side of Cayuga Lake, has since blossomed and taken on a life all its own.
Connie Tallcot remembers talking with her friend Barb Noden about ways to attract attention to the east side of the lake when, they hit on what has turned out to be a momentous idea.
“The west side has the wine trails,” Tallcot said. “We did a little bit of everything over the years, a treasure hunt, a road rally. And we were thinking about what else we could do and we thought about it and realized everyone loves a garage sale, so maybe we should do something like that.”
From those humble beginning of two friends talking, the sale has grown into an entity unto itself.
“It has really grown and taken on a life of its own,” Tallcot said. “People just know that it is time to have the sale, when the last full weekend in July rolls around people are ready. It has really grown into something people look forward to and people will come from all over to be here for this. It was even in Country Living magazine. People will plan their vacations around being here for this.”
All along the route residents went the extra mile, setting up tables and tents, selling clothing, cars, books, DVDs, and even food and water.
Sherry Casbohm and her daughter Dawn, of Cayuga, have been taking part in the sale for as long as either can remember.
“We've been doing this for at least the last 15 years,” Casbohm said. “We started doing this when she (Dawn) was really little and we do it pretty much every year.”
Casbohm said that the sale, like any good garage sale, offers something to both the seller as well as the shopper.
“It is a lot of fun,” Casbohm said. “People come out here and look around and finding some nice things and have a good time. But it is fun for us too and we get to clean out our basements and attics and this gives us a good reason to do that.”
An idea a fellow seller had taken to heart.
Chris Carter, of Cayuga, said that she has been a life-long resident and has always enjoyed the sale, but this marked her first year taking part.
“My mother retired,” Carter said. “So we thought this would be a good way to sell some of her things while she is off on vacation. But I've always enjoyed the whole sale and walking around and seeing everybody and everything, it is a lot of fun.”
The sale is truly somewhere between a treasure hunt, with 50 miles of sale items, spanning virtually everything and anything one could imagine, shoppers never know what they might find.
“I come up for this pretty much every year,” said Ronald Shaw. of Homer. “You've got to be patient and willing to look and do some walking, but you never know what you might find, there is always great stuff here. One of these days I'm going to make it from one end of this sale to other.”
And along the way, aside form the endless sales; there are a few other things that are not to be missed.
For Carrie Ward, a former Cayuga resident, who now calls Rochester home, the homemade doughnuts at the Cayuga Fire Department are worth the trip back home.
“They are just great,” Ward said. “They are all fried and everything. They are just great. When I was little I used to look so forward to those. That is one of the best parts of all of this.”
If you go
What: 50-mile long garage sale
When: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today
Where: Route 90 between Montezuma and Homer
The Citizens' Say
There are 1 comment(s)
Farmer's Gal wrote on Jul 27, 2008 4:43 PM:
I know I went the stretch from Genoa to Levanna, as well as some sales on side roads, and did not find an armchair under $40, which is what I was seeking. In fact, I saw only one ugly used armchair priced at $75, and a bunch of old ratty ones priced as antiques (wouldn't want to sit on them much less pay that kind of money for them!)
By Sunday, many places had already closed up, though they also failed to take down their signs -- the off-90 sales of this sort leaving people driving off into the countryside looking for nothing. I suspect there will be a whole lot of used clothes, junky old kitchenware and gadgets, glasses and dishes, getting put in with the trash this coming week (better that than people saving it to put it out again next year!)
I think the sale needs a year or two hiatus to be more successful, IMHO. "