Lions Club garage sale returns
Published 1:30 am Friday, June 19, 2026
Several secret storage locations on Central Whidbey held the Coupeville Lions Club’s stash ahead of its annual garage sale, expected to be a big hit once again this year.
“Everybody enjoys it. The community looks forward to it every year,” PR Chair Deanna Rogers said. “So we try to do our best to make things look great and keep them coming.”
All of the goods will be for sale at the Coupeville Elementary School later this month. Shoppers can preview the collection from 3-6 p.m. on June 26. Everything is for sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 27, then, from 9 a.m. to noon on June 28, shoppers can negotiate the prices of everything that is left.
While the sale is a major fundraiser for the club, bringing in as much as $45,000 to $50,000 a year, according to Garage Sale Chair Rick Walti, it has become something of a town tradition.
Nothing is saved from previous garage sales, so each year, the lions’ collection begins anew. But it does not take long to find enough stuff to sell. Club president Gary Youngs said the lions typically begin collecting for the sale in mid-August and stop around April; last year, he added, they had to refuse donations as early as January.
Rogers said advertising that the club needs donations every year is unnecessary.
“People know in the community to donate, and they call the lions,” she said.
When the horn sounds Saturday morning to signal the sale’s beginning, Walti said people “rush” to shop, and he recalled in years past people sitting their children on furniture as a way to stake their claim. Like Coupeville’s own Costco, there are hot dogs for sale to feed hungry shoppers.
Appliances remain popular, as have hand tools and books. And every year, the club selects a couple specialty items to be auctioned off, and this year, those are an old-fashioned dental chair — featuring a drill — and a mini slot machine.
It is a lot of hard work to organize the sale, but the lions agree it is worth the effort.
“It’s honestly a social thing for the club. We hang out for two weeks solid and get things done, and we know it’s for a good cause,” Rogers said. “It’s just a win-win.”
