On Saturday the people of Cairo made their dollars stretch all across town with their city-wide garage sale, coordinated by Boy Scout Troop 103.
Yard-seller Todd Reimers: "Times are hard out there, you know, everybody's going to make that dollar stretch as far as they can."
Boy Scout Troop #103 Scoutmaster Bret Osburn: "The economy's a little tough, and if you can save a dollar, you can save a dollar."
Cairo's concept is popular these days, when pennies need pinching.
Cairo Mayor Bill Heger: "I went downtown this morning, and the streets were full. And they weren't all people from Cairo, but a lot of them are coming in from Grand Island, we have people from Ravenna, we have -- from Wood River, and even farther than that."
Here's an example of the kind of bargain that could be found on Saturday in Cairo -- a family room size television from a major appliance maker, complete with the remote control -- just twenty dollars.
Cairo sellers say buyers' "hot item" list was topped by bargain books, furniture, and Christmas decorations that will help preserve holiday budgets.
Some see the garage sales as part of an area trend toward thriftiness.
Garage sale shopper Brooke Naylor on fellow sale-hunters: "There's a lot of garage sales around here, and a lot of rummage sales. They really try to find a better bargain than what they can find in the bigger stores. So I think it's a big thing now."
Several sellers commented that today's sales are nothing compared to late September's "Junk Jaunt," when about 40 Nebraska cities stretching over 300 miles will hold a three day yard sale-a-thon.
For now, though, shoppers are economizing in the spirit of give-a-little, get-a-little.
Brooke Naylor: "I'm always donating things, always checking out garage sales. Really not a lot of things I have are new. We really like the second hand stuff."
