At most intersections over the weekend, signs plastered utility poles with a universal message: “Yard Sale” — and an arrow pointing the way. 

But it was no coincidence. Over the past few weeks, community members on Facebook coordinated a town-wide effort at over 35 different homes, led by Dartmouth native Shannon Perry. 

At each sale, sellers and buyers shared a common opinion.

“I think we should do it yearly,” said Tom Rafferty.

“We should definitely do it again,” said Jennifer Magalhaes.

“We’re hoping to make it grow year after year,” said Dartmouth Middle teacher Jillian Maiorano.

Sellers on Saturday, June 10 said the turnout has been “fantastic.” In the first hour of his sale, Rafferty said he had about 20 people stop by, including a couple from Bristol, R.I. 

“I think it was well advertised,” said Magalhaes. “It’s great that the community was able to do it all on one day.”

Like many other sellers, Magalhaes enlisted the help of her children, but gave them a special deal: they get a cut of the profit when an item they cleaned out of their room sells. 

In addition to a full list of participating yard sales, Perry also created an interactive map and an emoji-coded spreadsheet that details the type of items available at each sale. For instance, a emoji key means antique and vintage wares are available at the sale, while an emoji tent means the seller has camping supplies.

“I understand how much work it is to update it and how much work goes into coordinating,” said Maiorano. “I saw someone post it on [Facebook] and it just grew and grew and grew and grew.”

Perry thinks it would be nice to do the sale yearly, but “we’ll see after the weekend,” she said.

The yard sales continue on Sunday, with both new and returning yards to visit.