By Kathy Chaffin

kchaffin@salisburypost.com

CLEVELAND — Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 6.

Town commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to hold the first Cleveland Yard Sale on that date. "I would like everybody to participate," said Commissioner Mary Frank "Frankie" Fleming-Adkins.

Instead of having the yard sale at one central location, residents will be asked to set whatever they want to sell out in their yards so people can shop house to house. If residents have family members who want to bring something to their houses to sell, Fleming-Adkins said, that's fine, too. "You can just junk-swap or something," she said.

Fleming-Adkins said she would like to be able to advertise the yard sale to draw shoppers in from all over. Her mother participates in an annual communitywide yard sale in Spruce Pine, she said, and makes about $1,000 a year from it.

Town residents can start now boxing things they want to sell, she said. Fleming-Adkins also suggested scheduling the town's semi-annual, large garbage pickup for June 8 so it will be easy for residents to discard what they don't sell if they so choose.

When commissioners were considering a date for the yard sale, Mayor Jim Brown said he would rather the town have it in June because the Lions Club has an annual yard sale in April or May.

Why not have it at the same time? Fleming-Adkins asked. "People will come from all over," she said.

Brown said he would rather keep them separate.

Commissioner John I. Steele Jr. kept the discussion light. "I have complete faith in the town of Cleveland," he said. "There's enough junk in the town for two."

Also at the meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to allow Shonda Donaldson, of 101 S. Brevard St., to plant a community garden on town property adjacent to Town Hall.

Brown said the only stipulation would be that she sign a waiver releasing the town of any liability in the event any volunteers are injured while working on the garden.

"Our insurance will not pay for volunteers working on town property," he said. "You might want to pass that on to your volunteers."

Donaldson said she had already had someone volunteer to plow the soil and had several people who want to help plant and work the garden to provide fresh vegetables to the needy and elderly in the town.

"I feel like this is my purpose," Donaldson said, "and God's put me here for this purpose. This is what He wants me to do."

Fleming-Adkins asked Donaldson what she planned to call the garden.

"The Cleveland Town Garden," she responded.

After commissioners voted on the matter, which Donaldson first proposed at their December meeting, she raised her arms in triumph and said "Yes!"

Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.

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