Great Glebe Garage Sale coming 
Saturday, May 26

by Colette Downie

With spring finally in the air, a reminder about the Great Glebe Garage Sale: this neighbourhood-wide garage sale and celebration of spring is coming up soon, on Saturday, May 26, from 8 a.m. till 3 p.m., though depending on the weather, keen shoppers may be out much earlier. Bank Street merchants are also getting ready for their fantastic sidewalk sale. Here’s hoping for great weather!

Food Bank

Sellers are encouraged to give 10 per cent of their sales to the Ottawa Food Bank, which the Great Glebe Garage Sale has supported for many years. The Ottawa Food Bank provides food and support to over 38,400 people in Ottawa every month. They work with local farmers and growers to ensure that 47 per cent of delivered food is fresh. We’re aiming to surpass last year’s total of $14,000. The Ottawa Food Bank turns every dollar donated into $5 worth of food through their relationship with food industry partners. With just under 3 per cent of their funding coming from government sources, your donation will truly help feed those in need.

This year, donations can be made online through the Ottawa Food Bank’s website at www.ottawafoodbank.akaraisin.com/gggs2018 or by selecting “Great Glebe Garage Sale” on the drop-down menu on the general donations page. Donations can also be mailed to the address on the Glebe Community Association website under “Great Glebe Garage Sale FAQs”. Given that the large majority of donations in recent years have been made online rather than in person, the Ottawa Food Bank will not have a table at the Glebe Community Centre this year.

Electronics

Glebe Collegiate Institute will again be holding its very popular free electronics drop off on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, May 26 and 27 (see box). This is a fundraiser for Glebe’s environment club, TWIGS.

Heritage

Homeowners are encouraged to celebrate the wonderful architecture and social history of the Glebe by posting a heritage plaque that identifies the history of the home and its architectural style for passersby to enjoy on sale day. The Glebe Community Association Heritage Committee is making this an annual feature of the sale to help increase awareness and appreciation of the valuable heritage character of our Glebe neighbourhood. Information on researching your home’s history and plaque templates can be found at www.glebeca.ca.

Cars!

Parking and traffic are challenging on sale day. Remember that you must not block any part of a sidewalk or road. Roads must be kept clear for emergency vehicles. There will be parking restrictions on a number of emergency routes and on Bank Street. With the extra traffic during the sale, it may take you longer to drive in and out of the neighbourhood so give yourself extra time.

Food

If you are planning to sell hamburgers, hotdogs or other cooked food, it is important to know and comply with the city’s food regulations to make sure you meet food inspectors’ expectations.   You’ll need to apply to the city at least two weeks before the sale (it’s free). The city’s website www.Ottawa.ca provides information about health and safety requirements as well as the online application.

See the Glebe Community Association’s Great Glebe Garage Sale FAQs at www.glebeca.ca/great-glebe-garage-sale-faqs-2/ for more tips and details or contact the sale coordinator, Colette Downie, at gggs@glebeca.ca with any questions.

Colette Downie is the volunteer coordinator of the Great Glebe Garage Sale for the Glebe Community Association.

Heritage at the Great Glebe Garage Sale

by Johanna Persohn

For the fifth year, the Glebe Community Association invites homeowners and residents of the Glebe to celebrate the wonderful architecture and social history of the Glebe during the Great Glebe Garage Sale on May 26 by displaying a temporary plaque presenting a brief history of their home. How? Prepare and install a simple temporary plaque or sign and attach it to a stick or tree on your lawn near the sidewalk. The plaque could provide details on your home’s history and architectural style such as its builder or architect or its historical occupants.

You can find a basic one-page template with examples at the Committee’s web site, www.glebeca.ca/committees/heritage/heritage.html, or email the committee at heritage@glebeca.ca for help, or create your own! The plaque can be typed or handwritten, include photographs, the architect or builder, whatever you like! We suggest a full or half page adhered to a foam board or cardboard and stapled to a long wooden stake or a tree.

Check out the City of Ottawa Archives guide “Tracing the History of your Ottawa Property” for tips on how to research the history of your home. You may also wish to use a seven-day free trial to www.newspapers.com or google the background of known previous occupants. You can find the names of previous occupants by looking at the Ottawa City Directories (hardcopy or microfilm) at the main library or city archives. Only a few years of the directories are available on the Internet (1890s, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916 and 1923) via www.sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/Home/can/on/ottawa and 1912 via www.archive.org/details/ottawadirec191200midiuoft. For assistance, contact the Heritage Committee at heritage@glebeca.ca. The committee would be happy to help you identify the architectural style of your house or help you prepare your plaque using any information you have.

If you live on Glebe Avenue, Linden Terrace, Monkland, Clemow or Powell avenues, the GCA Heritage Committee has already completed a detailed electronic file on each home on these streets and would be pleased to provide you with an electronic copy for your use.

Heritage Register

Some owners will have received a letter from the city advising you that your house will be added to the City’s Heritage Register this year. The committee encourages you to use the research provided by the city to prepare a plaque, or ask us to make one for you! Information on the city project can be found here.

Clemow Estates Heritage 
Conservation District (Phase II)

If you live in the proposed Clemow Estates Phase II Heritage Conservation District (details at www.glebeca.ca/clemow-estate-phase-ii/. and www.ottawa.ca/en/city-hall/public-consultations/planning-and-infrastructure/phase-ii-clemow-estate-heritage), we hope you put your sign from last year out again this year on May 26! The GCA Heritage Committee compiled research on the homes in the proposed district and provided each house with its own plaque last year.

Johanna Persohn is co-chair of the GCA Heritage Committee.

 Ottawa Centre Refugee Action (OCRA)
2nd GREAT GLEBE GARAGE SALE FUNDRAISER!

 WHERE: 166 and 164 Glebe Avenue (corner of Lyon)
PROCEEDS: 10% to Ottawa Food Bank
90% to fund refugee sponsorships by OCRA!
TO DONATE SALE ITEMS: Please bring them to Lyon Street
corner of Glebe Avenue (166 Glebe Avenue) on Friday, May 25, from 4 – 8 P.M.
TO DONATE YOUR GARAGE SALE PROCEEDS TO OCRA:
If you would like to help without moving your stuff, email 
ocra613@gmail.com and we will bring you a sign for your driveway.
Or visit www.refugeeaction.ca and donate!

Merchants’ open-air market during Great Glebe Garage Sale

by Trevor Greenway

If you’re looking to score some major deals at this year’s Great Glebe Garage Sale on May 26, don’t just rely on someone’s trash becoming your newly found treasure.

While you’re pursuing the side streets, sifting through old Anne Murray records or vintage board games that may or may not be missing important pieces, take a stroll down Bank Street where you will find scores of merchants offloading brand new product at often a fraction of the regular price. The merchants line the curb lane along Bank Street creating one epic open-air market that stretches the entire neighbourhood.

“We always have a table outside with footwear that is $50,” says Delilah owner Eva Cooper. With footwear at her boutique often retailing from $140 to upwards of $300, you could snag a pair of new kicks for a whopping 83 per cent off.

Cooper knows just how important her local shoppers are in the Glebe. That’s why she is starting the Great Glebe Sidewalk Sale early this year on Thursday, May 24 for locals who won’t necessarily be able to get away from their own front-lawn garage sales to snag prime deals from their favourite Glebe shops. She will run her sale Thursday and Friday inside the store and then take whatever is left outside for the big garage sale on Saturday.

“Locals support us for 363 days a year,” says Cooper. “They are there for us all the time and they are our biggest supporters and I don’t want to take time away from them trying to get rid of stuff on their front lawns on Saturday,” she says.

While Compact Music owner Ian Boyd is a big believer that, “everyday is a great day for music lovers to come into the store,” the Great Glebe Sidewalk Sale is especially beneficial for vinyl enthusiasts as every piece of wax in the Glebe music store will be 20 per cent off. If you’re a digger, you’ll find some sonic gold in the crates outside at three albums for only $5.

“We only do 20 per cent off vinyl three or four times a year so it’s a great chance to get some good music,” says Boyd. “Come down and take advantage of that. It’s 20 per cent off – who does that?”

It’s much of the same vibe all the way down Bank Street as merchants like JD Adam, Mrs. Tiggy Winkles, Capital Home Hardware and Kunstadt Sports embrace the spirit of the garage sale and stage massive blowout sales for the thousands of bargain hunters scoping out deals.

Whether you’re looking for toys, a new or used bike or a fresh patio set, merchants in the Glebe will likely have exactly what you’re looking for.

“Like the organic, grass-roots nature of the Great Glebe Garage Sale, our merchants’ sidewalk sale has taken on a life of its own and has now grown into the ultimate shopping day in the Glebe,” says Glebe BIA Executive Director Andrew Peck.

“It really is a wonderful retail day, both for our merchants looking to clear out product and for shoppers looking for those good finds.”

Other stores like Escape Clothing, Joe Mamma Cycles, Octopus Books and The Glebe Emporium will be offering deals throughout the day. Glebe eateries will also have their patios open for those looking to recharge and refresh, while some will even be selling hot food straight from their windows, allowing you to grab a sandwich and keep shopping.

In addition to the sidewalk sale, Ecology Ottawa is hosting its Great Glebe Green Garage Sale in the parking lot of Boston Pizza where they will be handing out free evergreen saplings to anyone who wants to plant one in their yard. Last year, the environmental organization gave away more than 2,500 trees – their most successful tree giveaway to date. Ecology Ottawa will transform the Boston Pizza parking lot into a family fun zone with live DJs all day, water stations and kids’ games.

So, don’t only sift through tables of pre-loved treasures to find that one vintage lamp that will likely be already gone by 7:01 a.m. Check out some of your favourite Glebe shops for deals on shoes, clothing, jewellery and even cat’s pajamas.

The Great Glebe Garage and Sidewalk Sale runs from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 26 throughout the Glebe. Visit www.intheglebe.ca for more information.

Trevor Greenway is responsible for communications at the Glebe BIA (Business Improvement Area).