The community garage sale held on April 1 and hosted by the City of Mesquite Department of Athletic and Leisure Services officially opened at 8 a.m. but lousy timing and competing community sales kept this event for-a-good-cause from reaching its full potential. Proceeds from the sale benefit the Mesquite Recreation Center Youth Scholarship Fund. Photo by Teri Nehrenz

As is the case this time of year, every year, in Mesquite, timing and scheduling kept an event for a good cause and the hard work it took to plan the event from reaching its full potential.

Everything that happens does so in a very short six months with everybody scrambling to schedule outside activities during the optimal weather and peak residence times; there’s no way around it and it’s an accepted and sometimes unfortunate fact for Mesquite residents and organizations. Many events between the months of Oct. and April overlap each other causing folks to choose one or the other when both are great events, albeit, for different reasons.

The City of Mesquite, Department of Athletics and Leisure Services (CMDALS) held a community garage sale in the parking lot of the Mesquite Recreation Center on Saturday, April 1, unfortunately, competing with Sun City Mesquite’s Community Garage Sale where there was a reported 60+ vendors/sellers with some serious bargains on high end products to be found.

The purpose of the CMDALS’s garage sale was to benefit and support the Mesquite Recreation Center Youth Scholarship Fund. While the center did manage to make some money toward the scholarship from the very nominal fee that was charged per vendor/seller, the vendors didn’t have encouraging words to report on their sales. Most of the vendors were packed up and gone by 11 a.m. having been in the lot since 7 a.m. to set up and sitting through a disappointing three hours with only slightly moderate buyer traffic. The sale officially opened at 8 a.m.; the few sellers who were left were packed and ready to go or just finishing the last of their packing well before the noon hour.

For those who missed the opportunity to turn this event into more than a moderate success but still care about what the CMDALS is trying to build for the youth of Mesquite, please contact them at 702-346-8732 to donate. Help CMDALS help our youth.