Entering the Clover Ridge neighborhood April 24, I was passed by a SUV with a pink and white plastic playhouse perched on top.

Yes. It was once again time for the 24th annual Jonathan Festival of Garage Sales.

The sales, organized by St. Andrew West Lutheran Church, are a great barometer of trends and technology.

For instance, once upon a time, Chaska-made NordicTracks sprouted like dandelions at the Jonathan garage sales. Now the company is gone, and so are the vintage exercise machines. However, like the ivory-billed woodpecker, there are sometimes rumors of a NordicTrack sighting.

This year, sales and shoppers seemed to be down – perhaps because of the heavy rain forecast. (It only sprinkled).

As I’ve done since 2007, I've made some observations of the event.

On the upswing:

* Commemorative state quarter maps (sans quarters) were popular at this year’s garage sales. They could have been gifts-gone-wrong. Or, with this economy, the $12.50 may have been too valuable to hang on the wall.

* Shrek Operation: Don’t ask me why, but I saw a couple sales ditching this game. It maybe a bad sign for the unholy pop culture/Hasbro alliance. So long Star Wars Monopoly!

* New DVDs: New DVDs are priced to watch and dispose. As a result, people apparently don’t mind parting with them as much as the older $30 VHS tapes. A large number of relatively new DVDs could be found at last Saturday’s sale.

* Good CDs: There were a number of good CDs out there this year. I can only guess that people are downloading the music and ditching the CDs for space. I picked up music by the Allman Brothers; June Carter Cash; Elvis and Dean Martin. (OK, maybe my taste is off -kilter.)

* Bread makers: Blessed are the bread makers that no longer take up cupboard space.

Thriving

As noted last year, early garage sales have become the rage, with Thursday and Friday becoming booming days for sales.

Concessions: Garage sale entrepreneurs continue to buttress their earnings with food booths throughout town. Kudos to whomever was selling those eggrolls (3 for $1). Those were delicious.

Endangered

VHS: How does it feel to outlive the VHS? After years on an upswing, most people have finally shed those bulky plastic cartages. The last VHS holdouts are giving way. Who else would finally throw out their complete “Monty Python Flying Circus” VHS collection, or the complete “Cheers” series. Oh Shelly Long, you were so radiant.

Stamping/Scrapbooking: After trending up, this year had a tiny number of sales peddling stamping and scrapbooking supplies.

Extinct

* Albums. Oh vinyl, I hardly knew ye. A few years ago, records could be found everywhere. This year the record apparently went the way of the wax cylinder.

Sale items of note

* Desert Storm Trading Cards

* Vintage Clydesdale Budweiser Horse model

* Love Boat World Cruise board game – actually spotted by a coworker. (Mollee why didn’t you buy this! You pulled a Charo card, go back three spaces.)

* Bumper sticker with a crossed-out Confederate flag stating: “You lost. Get over it!”

* Skateboarding ramps and rails at one house. Ahhh college. How glad were these parents to get rid of that junk?

* A batch of new playing cards (30 cents a pack), apparently from the early 1980s, touting everything from “Melinda: First Lady of Magic” to Kent cigarettes to a rabbit ummmm … “embracing” a hen.

* A "Six Feet Under" checkerboard. Apparently for people who love the HBO series and, well, checkers.

And, if only I had the room/money for this wondrous device: vintage police lights from the 1970s or early 1980s ($190 or best offer). I can imagine racing through Chaska ala “The Streets of San Francisco” hunting down perps.

Here are my observations from ...

2009: www.chaskaherald.com/community/mark-olson/jonathan-garage-sale-trends-20...

2008: www.chaskaherald.com/community/mark-olson/jonathan-garage-sale-trends-20...

2007: www.chaskaherald.com/community/forums/todays-topic/garage-sale-trends