From Rita and Tom Farris
Monroe
To the editor:
Maybe we have outgrown our need for a Monroe citywide garage sale. We hope not. Thanks to the 27 people who registered to be on the map for the August sale.
The Citywide brings people to Monroe from as far as 50 miles around us in all directions. Many of these shoppers anticipate the event eagerly.
Advertising for the Citywide is done in all surrounding newspapers, the radio stations, and the internet. Costs for this advertising and other expenses are covered with the $10 registration fee from each registrant. The other costs involved include the ink toner and paper used to prepare 1,000 maps, copied for local distribution. The hours spent in preparing and copying the map, and delivering the maps to grocery stores and gas stations are all volunteer time.
As an incentive to register to be on the map, two $25 Monroe Money Gift Certificates have been given to two participating registrants through a drawing. The total Citywide costs amount to about $500. With 50 participants, the Citywide is self-supporting. Prior to this past August, we averaged 50 registrations per sale. Sometimes the registered sellers reached 63 and sometimes 46. Those numbers were sufficient to make the Citywide support itself.
With only 27 registered sellers this August, and numerous other sellers setting up their sales without registering to be on the map, thereby taking advantage of the advertising others are supporting, we will not be able to continue having a Monroe Citywide garage sale.
We will schedule a spring 2015 Citywide garage sale for Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9. If 50 sales are registered by May 1, 2015, the week before sales, we will be very willing to continue the Monroe Citywide sales for May 8 and 9, 2015. If we do not reach 50 registrations by May 1, we will need to cancel the Citywide sale on May 1, before any advertising is done for it.
Monroe
To the editor:
Maybe we have outgrown our need for a Monroe citywide garage sale. We hope not. Thanks to the 27 people who registered to be on the map for the August sale.
The Citywide brings people to Monroe from as far as 50 miles around us in all directions. Many of these shoppers anticipate the event eagerly.
Advertising for the Citywide is done in all surrounding newspapers, the radio stations, and the internet. Costs for this advertising and other expenses are covered with the $10 registration fee from each registrant. The other costs involved include the ink toner and paper used to prepare 1,000 maps, copied for local distribution. The hours spent in preparing and copying the map, and delivering the maps to grocery stores and gas stations are all volunteer time.
As an incentive to register to be on the map, two $25 Monroe Money Gift Certificates have been given to two participating registrants through a drawing. The total Citywide costs amount to about $500. With 50 participants, the Citywide is self-supporting. Prior to this past August, we averaged 50 registrations per sale. Sometimes the registered sellers reached 63 and sometimes 46. Those numbers were sufficient to make the Citywide support itself.
With only 27 registered sellers this August, and numerous other sellers setting up their sales without registering to be on the map, thereby taking advantage of the advertising others are supporting, we will not be able to continue having a Monroe Citywide garage sale.
We will schedule a spring 2015 Citywide garage sale for Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9. If 50 sales are registered by May 1, 2015, the week before sales, we will be very willing to continue the Monroe Citywide sales for May 8 and 9, 2015. If we do not reach 50 registrations by May 1, we will need to cancel the Citywide sale on May 1, before any advertising is done for it.
