RIDGEFIELD — Anyone in Clark County looking for Pez dispensers, bear rugs and Bill Walton autographs needed only be in one place Saturday: the NW’s Largest Garage Sale & Vintage Sale at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds.
Saturday’s was the final event of the year for the Largest Garage Sale, which holds three a year at the event center.
The next, on April 13, will be the 10th anniversary show, and about 680 booths are expected, according to event manager Amanda Cline.
She said there were roughly 540 booths on Saturday, quite a bit more than the 100 or so at the first show nearly 10 years ago.
“Vintage and repurposed items, especially furniture, are really popular right now,” Cline said.
For some sellers, it’s a good way to clear out some space in the house. For others, it’s a place to sell their handmade goods. That’s what Katie Carpio of Centralia was doing Saturday. She had a booth with her husband, Omar Carpio, where they sold wood log snowmen. Katie Carpio said she saw similar items and wanted to try making her own.
They started making them last month from trees they cut down on their own property. The snowmen had faces painted on, and some had scarves.
“It was something we started on a whim,” she said, adding that they sold about 30 of them on Saturday.
Similarly, Zach Aylesworth was there Saturday selling products made at home. He manned the booth for Ayles Herbals, where he sold soap his wife, Amber Aylesworth, made by hand. Zach Aylesworth said the pumpkin-scented soaps are popular this time of year, but their biggest seller is the appropriately-named “The Favorite,” which is mint and lavender-scented. Aylesworth said his wife started making soap at home, and that was the first one she made. She gave it to friends and family who kept asking for more, which is how it got its name.
The couple, who live in Castle Rock, also makes shapes with their soap. On Saturday, they had gun-shaped soap, cupcake-shaped soap and heart-shaped soap. Aylesworth said they use some of the leftover soap after making a loaf to make different shapes. One of the newer soaps he showed off Saturday was their charcoal licorice soap, which smells exactly like black licorice.
Saturday was their second time at a NW’s Largest Garage Sale. One regular of the shows is “Turquoise” Jim Ouchida, who was selling antique swords from roughly 1750 to 1850. And turquoise products, of course. Ouchida had a variety of turquoise jewelry and natural turquoise. He said he finds his items to sell at estate sales and overseas.
Ouchida has been selling at Largest Garage Sale shows since they started.
“We’re one big family,” he said. “We all work together. It’s a community and a family all at once. I’ve seen this thing grow from a small flea market into a huge event.”
Adam Littman: 360-735-4518; adam.littman@columbian.com; twitter.com/a_littman
