The Coupeville Lions Club’s annual garage sale is returning in person for its 42nd consecutive year but will be outdoors only to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Under normal circumstances, the sale is spread over an indoor and an outdoor space. Indoor sale items typically include household wares like books, dishes, linens and games, but those won’t be available this year.

Instead, the sale will focus exclusively on outdoor items, such as furniture, appliances, lawn care equipment and outdoor recreation gear.

Coupeville Lions Club public relations chair Deanna Rogers said the club is expecting turnout and revenue to be slightly lower than in previous years because of the lack of indoor items. While many community members line up down the street in anticipation of the great deals on furniture and other large items sold outdoors, the indoor items usually bring browsers and impulse shoppers who might forgo this year’s event.

“It’s the best we can do under the circumstances,” Rogers said. “I think the public will enjoy what we do have out.”

The garage sale will have more COVID-19 safety measures in place than just being outdoors. The Lions Club is also requiring attendees to mask up, and a pop-up vaccination clinic will be available onsite throughout the whole sale.

“We wish our garage sale could resume as it has been historically in the past, but due to the outbreak of the COVID Delta Variant, we have chosen to offer this outdoor-only sale, requiring masks for everyone, which will assure the most safety possible to allow the community to feel comfortable joining in the fun,” Rogers said.

The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 22 at Coupeville Elementary School.

The Lions Club will also host an in-person preview from 3-6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 20, so shoppers can peruse the goods ahead of time.

A virtual preview will be held live on Facebook at 2 p.m. on Friday at https://www.facebook.com/CoupevilleLionsClub.

At 2 p.m. on Saturday, the club will auction off two antique Japanese Tansu chests live at the sale.

Photo by Karina Andrew/Whidbey News-Times Volunteers cover up outdoor wares to protect them from rain.

Lions Club member Marilyn Pulk prices pots to be sold at the garage sale this weekend. (Photo by Karina Andrew/Whidbey News-Times)