Treasure hunt

Bargain hounds make the weekend rounds

August 8, 2006

By Amy Schenck/Frontiersman

Dick and Nada Reed aren't pirates, but they are treasure hunters. On most Friday mornings they are out the door by 9 a.m. - the time when garage doors roll open and orange sale signs go up around the Valley.

Like many local residents, the Reeds are avid garage-salers who search for a good deal, as well as a good conversation.

&#8220We go to visit just as much as we go to buy things,” Nada Reed said.

The Reeds, who married seven years ago after meeting at a church barbecue, are both retired. Dick Reed taught math and coached wrestling at Palmer High School for decades. Nada Reed operated a bed and breakfast from her Palmer home and worked for five years at the Palmer Senior Center.

&#8220You know when you get retired and don't have a regular job, you have to find fun things to do,” Nada Reed said.

Last Friday, the Reeds began their garage sale search on the Seward Meridian Parkway.

To get an idea of what's out there, they checked the paper before leaving. But once in the car, they just started looking for signs.

Their first stop was on Ruth Drive, where they ended up with a 3-D puzzle shaped like a wine bottle, a plastic device for rolling up Dick's 100-foot extension cord, glass containers for storing nuts, a John Wayne movie and a wheelbarrow.

&#8220We walk around and see if anything catches our fancy,” Nada Reed said.

Not only do they have their eyes peeled for items they would use, but they also shop for their neighbor, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The 3-D puzzle shaped like a wine bottle was for Nada's son, who makes his own wine.

The second garage sale the Reeds visited proved to be as fruitful as the first. This surprised the Reeds, they said, because they often go to garage sales and don't find a thing.

They walked away with lawn-chair cushions and a bottle of wine.

Although the Reeds only drink when they have company, Dick Reed was particularly excited about the bottle of wine, which cost him $1.

&#8220This is the first garage sale I've ever been to that's had a bottle of wine,” he said. &#8220This right here at Carrs liquor store would cost 20 bucks or more.”

Normally, the Reeds will drop in on 10 different sales and stop for lunch. But last Friday they called it quits after visiting three sales because they wanted to get home early to paint their house.

Even so, the day showed a record of success. At the third sale, labeled by Dick Reed as &#8220a man's sale,” he found a tow rope, three bungie cords, several rachets for tying things down and snowmachining pants. Nada Reed found a small shovel.

&#8220I got me a shovel that's my size,” she said. &#8220I'm not even 5 feet tall.”

Friday's success notwithstanding, Dick Reed said the best thing he has ever found at a garage sale is a device for gold prospecting. He's taken it to different creeks around Alaska, shoveled in the gravel, and uncovered gold nuggets - treasure by even pirates' standards.

Contact Amy Schenck at 352-2269.