‘It’s about community.’ Foxdale Village ready to welcome all to semi-annual garage sale

Foxdale Village Retirement Community is what resident Lisa Rosensteel would call “an active community,” which she takes part in as one of the head chairs of the leadership team that plans Foxdale’s biggest fundraising event: the semi-annual garage sale.

The spring garage sale will take place from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday in Foxdale’s upper parking lot at 1900 University Drive, State College. The sale is cash or check only.

To cultivate the active community, the garage sale proceeds all fund Foxdale’s activities. The budget includes 25 activity groups such as the library, concerts, talks, bus trips, art classes and woodshop that are funded by the money raised from the garage sale.

From resident art pieces to baked goods to sofas, the garage sale will feature items donated by residents and their families. The garage sale committee members said it’s impossible to count the number of items put up for sale, and they even had to stop picking up furniture because they ran out of storage space in the “fox den” where they keep garage sale items.

Ellen Jarrett, one of the committee chairs on the leadership team, said the most popular items are anything related to houseware, and they fill six pallets worth of it.

The committee sets up tables full of jewelry, collectibles, decorations and art mostly under roofed areas in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.

On average, each garage sale raises around $15,000, and the spring sale is usually larger, according to head chair Ike Rosensteel. Foxdale hit a record last spring with about $22,000 raised, which amounted to about $16,000 after expenses. Last April’s garage sale was the first time in two years it came back after the pandemic.

“People say that it’s the best garage sale because the prices are very reasonable,” Jarrett said.

Joann McCormick, another committee chair, said she’s looking forward to the sale because she has family members visiting to see the event.

“We love the sale because people come in from all over the place,” McCormick said, “people we haven’t seen before.”

Linda said the garage sale is an opportunity for residents to give stuff away if they downsize from independent living to assisted living at Foxdale, and it’s a way for the residents and the public to socialize.

“It’s about community,” Linda said. “If we didn’t make any money at all, it’s still a community.”