We had great turnouts for both the Crown Hill Garage Sale on July 23rd and Night Out Seattle on August 2nd this year!

The 5th Annual Crown Hill Neighbors Garage Sale on July 23rd had 67 advance sign-ups this year. There were actually more sales and free sales. I made it to 46 of the sales.  My favorite sale this year was the 8 year old boy who decided to have a sale when a couple of his neighbors started putting their wares out. He was trying to raise $40 to help his sister replace her stolen bike. I checked back a week later and he made his goal!  There was great food to be had including Mt Fuji hot dogs, “possibly the best chocolate chip cookies in Crown Hill,” lemonade, and goodies galore (those lemon bars were really, really good). Of the 67 listings we had, 5 wouldn’t fit on our map, but we made them honorary Crown Hillers for the day. Traffic slowed to a crawl on many streets with multiple sales as cruisers walked from sale to sale. The folks on 16th between 87th and 89th deserve a special mention — they sure know how to have a multi-family garage sale — every one had a mix of great merchandise at bargain prices — and everybody was having fun talking to each other.  Thanks all and if you have comments, please get back to us at garagesale@crownhillneighbors.org

We had over a dozen block parties that I am aware of.  In my immediate neighborhood there were 4 parties blocking the streets, and there were a number of folk who walked to adjoining parties to share in the camaraderie and festivities. Children were seen zipping up and down the street on bikes, scooters, and foot as they enjoyed the freedom from vehicle traffic for an evening. Dogs were welcome at several of the parties (and at one, the whole group of herding dogs took noisy exception in unison to a child’s attempt to jump on a pogo stick). As always, the food was fabulous, and as is the case in potlucks, there was more than enough to go around. We’ve had a rough summer with crime, and it was great to see folk getting to know each other. MyBallard had an article featuring various parties around Ballard, and Crown Hill scored two pictures including the one at right! Next year, we’ve got to invite Engine 35 to come visiting!