JOYCE — Some 50 to 60 garage sales will sell everything from knickknacks to trailers during the Great Strait Sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The 61 miles of sales will begin at Laird’s Corner just west of Port Angeles on U.S. Highway 101 and stretch along the length of state Highway 112 — with a jog for a detour this year — to Neah Bay.
The sale, which has been taking place every year since 2008 under the auspices of the Juan de Fuca Scenic Byway Association, will go on despite a state closure at Joe Creek near Pysht that began Thursday and will last through Sept. 15.
The state Department of Transportation is replacing a culvert to aid fish passage.
On Saturday, Great Strait Sale shoppers can look for bargains along Highway 112 through the Joyce area and then detour via Joyce Access Road to U.S. Highway 101 around Lake Crescent to Highway 113.
That roadway merges onto state Highway 112 west of Pysht; shoppers can follow it to sales in Clallam Bay, Sekiu and Neah Bay.
The sale has loosely organized nexuses of community sales in Joyce, Clallam Bay and Neah Bay with invitations to those living along the highway to put together individual yard sales.
“You don’t have to reserve a site,” said Sande Balch, coordinator of the sale and secretary-treasurer of the byway association.
“The morning of, you can decide if you want to go to a community site or put a sign in your front yard.”
Community sales are planned at the Joyce Depot Museum, 50893 Highway 112; the Clallam Bay Visitor Center on Highway 112; and the Neah Bay Village Market, 931 Bayview Ave.
The Joyce sale is generally the largest, with about 20 vendors, Balch said, while the other community sales have about half that many.
She doesn’t know how many individuals will have sales but said the sale usually has upward of 50 total vendors overall.
A sale on Farrington Road in Joyce, she said, is promoted as “you name it, we got it,” she said, while the Joyce Fire Department at 51250 Highway 112 will hold its open house and yard sale from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Balch also is aware of two large sales in the Camp Hayden Road area in Joyce.
Farther west, the Lions Club and others will host a sale at Fifth and Bogachiel streets near Milepost 17/16 in Clallam Bay.
A large variety of goods will be offered.
“There are always handicrafts and arts and vintage furniture and clothing,” Balch said.
“Once in awhile, we find something really special.
“One of the sales is for a camp trailer.”
Several restaurants along the highway will offer discounts during the sale.
The Blackberry Cafe in Joyce is offering a raffle until 3 p.m. The winner will take home a fresh-baked blackberry pie. Also in Joyce, the Family Kitchen is giving a $1 discount off each meal.
In Clallam Bay, Strait Shots Espresso is discounting drinks by $1 each, Sunsets West Co-op is taking $1 off the soup of the day and Breakwater Restaurant is discounting the price of meals by 5 percent, Balch said.
The Scenic Byway Association has a free flier available for download on its website, www.highway 112.org, with many business deals and locations of sales.
The Great Strait Sale was begun for specific reasons, Balch said.
“The first thing was to have a community activity that involved all the people on Highway 112 as one community,” she said.
“The second part of that was to have an activity that would bring people to our surrounding communities to see what Highway 112 has to offer.”
The road that winds along a portion of the northern border of the United States offers scenery, parks, recreational opportunities and amenities such as restaurants, motels and gasoline, Balch said.
“You can eat, you can sleep and you can get gas — and you can hike, bike, kayak, fish, beachcomb, take photos” and see whales and other wildlife, she said.
Admission to all of the sales is free, although donations will be accepted at community sites to help the byway association with costs.
“The only things that support the event are the ads on the flier and donations,” Balch said.
“It’s not a fundraiser; it’s something for fun and for neighborliness.”
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
Assistant Managing Editor Mark Swanson contributed to this report.
