by Mike Nistler
news@thenewsleaders.com
Hundreds of St. Joseph residents opened their garages Friday and Saturday for the Communitywide Garage Sale.
A walk-through of any neighborhood promised a treasure trove of items.
In one neighborhood alone, this is what we found:
Elnor Benkowski of Ortonville was helping her daughter, Kim Essinger, at their sale at 601 Second Ave. NE. One of the most unique items they had for sale were four Sesame Street take-apart toys that were about 40 years old. The toys belonged to Elnor’s son, Larry, now 41, when he was just a toddler.
Down the block at 606, Cara Schmidt was peddling all kinds of stuff, including some antique black baby boots that belonged to her mother, Penny Bottorff, of Brainerd. The high-top button boots were part of a collection she had gathered throughout the years.
And across the street from the Schmidt house was a sale being held by Joan Hengel, who has lived in St. Joseph for 17 years and has had garage sales almost every year.
One of the prized items Hengel was parting with was a record collection that belonged to her late sister, Bea Knoll, Holdingford, who passed away five years ago at the age of 66.
Hengel said it was hard to part with the record collection, but as of Saturday morning she hadn’t sold any of the records.
- [/media-credit] These black leather children’s boots were among the antique items that Cara Schmidt was selling. The high-top, button-up boots belonged to her mother, Penny Bottorff, Brainerd.
