Calling all bargain hunters! The annual community-wide “Garage Sale Saturday” is only three days away.

And the forecast is calling for sunny weather!

By the end of the day Tuesday, the Pilot had received more than 80 sale listings to be published with a locater map in Saturday’s issue. The deadline to list your garage sale is 3 p.m. Thursday, so don’t delay! Call 541-469-3123.

Every year, hundreds of residents and visitors drive around Brookings, Harbor and the surrounding neighborhoods in search of great buys. Individual families and even entire blocks join forces to create multiple, easy-to-access shopping opportunities. Also, many local charities and nonprofit organizations conduct sales, giving shoppers a chance to find great deals and support a good cause.

To help readers sort it all out and find sales that match their interests, we will publish a special map of the Brookings-Harbor area showing all the participants and a brief description of items for sale. Just don’t drive and look at the map at the same time!

The map is particularly important this year. With  gas prices nearing the $4-a-gallon mark, thrifty shoppers don’t want to drive around aimlessly looking for garage sale signs. We suspect they will study the locater map and plan their route accordingly.

When the staff at the Curry Coastal Pilot first created it, we never dreamed that Garage Sale Saturday would become a fixture on the community’s calendar. And twice a year at that!

It has become a wonderful community event with multiple benefits. It gives residents a chance to clean up their homes and garages. It gives others a chance to get a great deal on items they might need. It’s a fundraiser for local nonprofits. It gets people away from their TVs, computers and other personal distractions and gives them a chance to meet their neighbors.

Viva la Garage Sale Saturday!