Found Treasures of Malverne’s Past

We have been waiting all year but the great weather is here at last and that means it's time to go treasure hunting.

Last week kicked off the beginning of garage season in Malverne. We had an agenda all planned out. Our breakfast group was going to  start off our day at a local eatery and then off to the town of Seacliff for their yearly village garage sale.  Sounded like a plan.

Well, we left breakfast and as we started driving we began seeing signs for garage sales. We figured let’s stop at one before our trek to the north shore. We went to the first house and were greeted by a friendly family who knew me  from our local TV station and Toni from Village Hall.

Then, we met up with some of our friends and compared notes on what other sales there were around the area. To our joy we went from house to house and street to street looking for our newly found treasures. There was one block that had five houses with items out for sale. So you can see where this is going.

No matter where we stopped we saw someone we knew either selling or buying. It was a great day to be out and so thought everyone else. By the time we were done, we were all tired and the SUV was full.  We had hit no less than 10 sales and so we decided to head back to unload and survey our great finds.

I must admit that I enjoy going to garage sales for a couple of reasons. One is to find great items for my garden and home, and second is to find those lost items pertaining to Malverne’s history. Believe me when I say that Malverne still has some hidden treasures out there.

In my travels I have found items from talking to residents and merchants, looking on eBay and Craigslist and of course browsing garage sales. I must admit that residents are very generous when I let them know that I am looking for items to be displayed in the Joseph L. Landers Memorial Restoration.  This year alone I have collected several items.

Pat Carbone from Pat’s Prime Meats donated Steer horns, one family gave memorabilia of one of our founding firemen, and another resident, who was a past board member of the Historical Society, handed over her paperwork I even found a former mayor selling Malverne Post cards on eBay.

Just the other day I had a resident pick up a stained glass window from outside of a house on Ackerly Avenue. Then, last night I stopped by the Historical House and found a bag of paperwork dating back to the 1940’s to 1950’s. (Still to be sorted through). So I know that there are others who are helping us preserve Malverne’s past.

On July 9 the Historical Society will hold one of its Trash & Treasure Sales. We should have between 20-30 vendors at the Historical House at 369 Church Avenue selling antiques, household items, books, clothes, furniture, etc. I look forward to meeting the vendors and buyers, and hope that we can find some more treasures from Malverne’s yester years.

I look forward to a season of weekends finding garage sales in our area, but I cannot do this alone. I need your assistance to search out some lost treasures of Malverne.  Any of you can join me in my task. So when you go to a garage or tag sale ask them if there is any Malverne memorabilia for sale.  Then, you can call me up or have the seller know I am interested. As for the sellers reading this you can contact me and let me know what Malverne treasures you may be selling. This would help me greatly.

Till then, happy hunting and enjoy the neighborhood! (Needless to say we never did make it to Seacliff.)