Dawn Williams crouched beside a crate of baby chicks, gently examining their tiny feet.
“These two just came out of the incubator,” Williams said. “One had a sickness, and she’s getting better… but this one has club feet. It happens when they don’t get enough nutrients right after hatching.”
The chicks weren’t for sale. Her earlier batch had already been picked up. A few neighbors paused to look, but Williams was mostly tending to them herself.
“They’re just a barnyard mix,” she said, pointing to one. “This one’s a showgirl. See the naked neck and the beard?”
From coops to chess sets, Palos Hills Bargain Days offered more than deals. It gave neighbors a reason to gather. The four-day garage sale event, held May 15 to 18, stretched across town, one folding table at a time.
For first-time visitor Fatima Addulhafeez, the event was a chance to explore the community. She carried a printed map, passed around by neighbors listing dozens of sales.
“I’m not hunting for anything specific,” Addulhafeez said. “Mostly yard stuff. Fertilizer. Tools.”
Longtime resident Lori Hostetter spent days preparing her sale.
“It’s been taking me forever to set up,” she said. “But it was just time to get stuff out of the house.”
Asked if there were items she hoped wouldn’t sell, Hostetter smiled. “There are a few things I might put back in the house if they don’t go,” she said. “Just a couple.”
Friday’s turnout encouraged her to pull even more from the attic and shed for Saturday.
Anna Sledzinski, who recently moved from Arizona, said she missed being able to host sales anytime.
“There’s no limits there,” she said. “Here it’s just two days, two times a year. That’s not good.”
Still, she added, “When I have time, I do this almost every week — if I could.”
One man, browsing quietly, said he’d spent 20 years collecting chess sets. “Probably 30,” he said when asked how many he owned.
Many sellers had a similar goal: clean out clutter, make a few dollars, and maybe chat with neighbors.
“Only three people who came yesterday even knew it was from the city,” said Kim Speropoulos. “They just saw the sign.”
After a solid first day, she added more items from her garage, including things her kids helped find.
“Whatever doesn’t sell doesn’t go back in the house,” she said. “It goes to Goodwill.”
Near her garage, Dawn Williams cradled a kitten in one arm while checking on two chicks in a crate beside her.
“They just came in yesterday,” she said. “Only a few days old.”
She leaned in for a closer look. “I think they’re both girls — but it’s still a little hard to tell.”
