'World's Largest Yard Sale' canceled in Seville

SEVILLE — The "World's Largest Yard Sale," a Seville staple for the past 45 years, will not take place this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mounting fiscal concerns and ensuing stress put upon village safety forces. According to a news release from the Seville Yard Sale Team, a coalition of local churches and organizations that were set to fund this year's event, efforts will be made to bring the yard sale back next year. "I appreciate the Seville Yard Sale Team and our community working together during this unusual time," Seville United Methodist Church Pastor Donald Trigg wrote. "I also appreciate the effort of keeping our community family as safe and healthy as possible. All of this during challenging and uncertain circumstances require decisions that are difficult yet necessary for the health and safety of everyone." "Historic moments like this make it easy to dwell on the disappointments of the present," the release stated. "But at the same time, we must remember we have an opportunity to make the 2021 Seville Yard Sale the best one ever." The yard sale was sponsored by the Seville Area Chamber of Commerce until late last year. A decision to cease funding was made due to the event becoming less profitable in recent years and its size growing outside the scope of what village safety forces can reasonably handle, said Seville Mayor Carol Carter, who also serves as the chamber's administrator. Efforts were made by the Seville Yard Sale Team to keep the event in place for Father's Day weekend. The Kiwanis Club of Seville pledged to cover insurance costs, Carter said. "People were upset when they heard about the chamber not sponsoring the yard sale anymore," she said. "Some of them threatened the chamber president and said 'How dare you.' The chamber spent more money making this available for residents than what was being brought in. When the liability is higher than the profit, you have to sit down and think about that business opportunity." However, the coronavirus served as the last straw. "Our police department and our fire department are saying this absolutely cannot go on right now," Carter said. "There's no testing for the virus and we can't bring in people from all over the state to our town. We've been strongly advised on all fronts to cancel, postpone, whatever you want to call it. Our streets just close up during the yard sale and we just can't have that." The decision to postpone came in line with a recommendation from Medina County Health Commissioner Krista Wasowski. After COVID-19 began causing widespread event postponements and cancellations, calls from across Ohio and surrounding states came in asking about the yard sale's fate. While many residents have expressed displeasure with decision, others have agreed even before the pandemic hit that the event was creating dangerous situations in the village, Carter said. She also cited concerns that have come through a growing trend of incoming food vendors setting up shop at private residences rather than designated village locations. "The chamber has specific areas for vendors where those vendors pay $250 but you have residents asking for $25 or $50 to basically lease out their front yard," Carter said. "That $250 coming in was paying for electric and water costs back to the village and for all of the port-o-pots." "It's not safe place for them to be," she added. "You can't operate a business in a residential front yard. The liability has gotten above what the chamber wants to be responsible for. I'm a former RVer, so I know what kind of outlets you're supposed to be plugging into. All it takes is one spark from a vendor that has a propane tank." Current village legislation does not prohibit yard sale vendors from striking deals with private residences but Council has considered changing that. Some talks were in favor of keeping the status quo intact, Carter said. "The chamber has begged my administration, two to three times, to not allow these vendors outside the designated areas," she said. "You know what they were told? 'You're not going to tell me what to do in my yard.' If my husband was alive today and needed emergency care, they could have never gotten to him from the fire station intersection in time. The traffic has gotten that bad. I love the yard sale and the (Seville Yard Sale Team) tried to do a good thing, but it's just impossible with this virus." Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.