Photos by Emily Schiffer
PROVINCETOWN — The town’s biannual — spring and fall, that is — communal yard sale is not called the Monumental Yard Sale because of its size. The yard-and-estate sale extravaganza got its name 20 years ago when it was first held in the parking lot of the Pilgrim Monument, says Provincetown attorney Christopher Snow, who in the past served on and led the board.
The sale wasn’t held regularly until the Provincetown Business Guild took on the job of organizing it, he says. Since then, it has been transformed from an opportunity for businesses to liquidate old merchandise into a townwide thrifting bonanza.
The Monumental Yard Sale’s fall edition happened last weekend, Oct. 12-14. One specialty seller in view was Theresa Cancelliere, who for 30 years owned Moda Fina, a store on Commercial Street specializing in funky women’s clothing, shoes, art, and gifts that closed in 2020. Her admiration of Mexican nichos (three-dimensional shrines to important people or loved ones) led her to feature them in her store and also to create her own. During this year’s sale, Cancelliere filled her driveway with goods from her former business that she sold at a deep discount: the nichos on her fence ranged from $15 to $40, instead of the $20 to $200 they sold for in her store.
“Today has been wonderful,” she says, gesturing toward the driveway, which remained packed with people at 5 p.m. on Saturday. “I’ve seen so many people from my store.”
Other items offered in the yard sale listings this year included hardware, pet supplies, Big Foot Halloween costumes, meditation cushions, vintage clothing, antiques, and a tandem kayak with paddles.
Snow and his wife, Kathy, took part from their house on Commercial Street, selling “everything and anything,” Kathy says. It’s “the ultimate recycling event,” Christopher says. “It’s as much social as it is commercial.”
