Tag Sale Tale Of Woe––

Everything Goes! But Not The Table

By Dottie Evans

Jonathan Coe of 126 Head O’ Meadow Road was nearly in the doghouse for the duration, except for the kindness of a New Milford woman named “Debbie” who makes a habit of checking weekly tag sales ads in The Newtown Bee.

Actually, that was where it all started –– in the Bee’s classified ads for September 5.

Leah and Jonathan Coe and a group of their Head O’ Meadow Road neighbors were going to hold joint sale on Saturday, September 6.

Their ad read as follows:

“Multi-Family Tag Sale… Something for everyone; coffee and end tables; futon, filing cabinet, crib, loveseat. Furniture, household items, children’s toys and some antiques and collectibles.”

Leah Coe was clearing out her house because she and her husband were thinking of putting it on the market. She wanted to remove the clutter so it would show well.

“We took a lot of things to the garage to get ready. I put this special table I have out there, and put some of the tag sale items on it.”

On the day of the sale, it was her husband’s job to transport everything from the garage to their neighbor’s house at 118 Head O’ Meadow Road, where the sale was being held. Not realizing the table was not for sale, he took it, too.

Because she was busy at home with their two young children, Olivia, 5, and Ryan, 8, Mrs Coe could not get to the sale first thing Saturday morning so her husband went on ahead. When she arrived, he announced proudly that he’d sold the table for $25.

“Oh No, Not My Table!”

Mrs Coe was devastated at the news. She’d had that table since she was a small child and she wanted to give it to Olivia some day.

“Tears came to my eyes. That table was part of my bedroom set when I was little. I remember having tea parties on it. It’s very pretty, different from any other, ornate but simple. It had a lot of memories connected to it,” she said.

Feeling terrible about the mix-up, Jonathan Coe did the only thing he could think of. First thing Monday morning, he put another ad in The Newtown Bee classifieds.

 It read as follows:

“Help!! Desperate!! Looking for an ornate wood table (about 36 inches tall and painted green) that was accidentally sold on Saturday, September 6 at a tag sale at 118 Head O’ Meadow Road. It has tremendous sentimental value to my wife.”

And he included their phone number.

That next week was a long one as they waited for the paper to come out on Friday, September 12.

On Friday night, while Mrs Coe was out for the evening, the phone rang and Mr Coe picked up.

A woman named “Debbie” from New Milford was calling to say she had the table and she would be glad to sell it back to the Coes, if they wanted to come and get it.

When his wife came home, Jonathan Coe was all smiles.

“You’re never going to believe this. Someone called right away, and she has the table, and we can pick it up tomorrow.”

Leah Coe was ecstatic.

“It made me so happy. I wrote her a thank-you letter right afterward. The amazing thing is, we never thought we’d get it back. When I told my friends we had put an ad in the paper for it, they laughed. We were just so lucky that Debbie was such a sweet person.”

As a footnote to this story’s happy ending, the Coes have decided not to move after all –– at least not this year.

And if they have any more tag sales, Mrs Coe will no doubt be paying very close attention to what goes out the door.