Each year for the past 25 years, on the Saturday before Memorial Day, the people of Chester have banded together to create a town wide tag sale trail. This year’s 26th anniversary of the event will take place on Saturday, May 25 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Originally started by the Chester Historical Society, the town wide tag sale has been run for the past eight years by the Chester Republican Town Committee (RTC); all proceeds from the event go to the RTC to be used to help offset campaign costs and general operating expenses.

“This is always a great event,” said RTC Chair Carolyn Kane. “It’s really become a tradition for many people and another way to celebrate the weekend with friends and family.”

At press time Kane had approximately 30 tag sales signed up to be included on the tag sale trail map.

The 11 by 17-inch maps of tag sale sites will be sold for $1 the day of the event at local businesses at the corner of Main Street and West Main Street; in front of the E-List building; at Lark, at 4 Water Street; and at Moravela’s Pizzeria on Route 154. Residents looking to get rid of some unwanted treasures that day have until Thursday, May, 23 to sign up for a place on the map. The cost to be put on the map is $10.

“Getting on the map is a great way to ensure that you will get people to come to your tag sale, because many of the people who come for the event are visitors from out of town who don’t know all the roads in town, so they make sure to follow the map,” said Kane. “In addition, guests on the day of the event should definitely pick up a map, because if they are on a mission, the map is the only way to ensure that they are able to find every tag sale to visit.”

Kane added, “This event is great for our residents, for visitors and for our local businesses. It brings people to town, helps others get rid of unwanted stuff and gives others the opportunity to shop around for those special treasures that they didn’t even know they needed. We hope everyone comes out for the event and that we have great weather.

“If the forecast the weekend before is predicting nice weather for the following Saturday, then we usually see an additional influx of people who want to be included on the map,” said Kane, who called the event, “resource intensive”.

“Other towns and organizations call me all the time asking how we put together this event and what they need to know to do the same in their own towns and I always tell them, you need support,” said Kane. “At least six volunteers are needed to pull this off and more always welcome.”

Tag sale sign up paperwork can be obtained from Lark or Kismet, 11 Main Street, in downtown Chester.