BETHEL — Locals and out-of-towners reached over and around each other in search of Christmas decorations, a West Elm sofa, skis, old-time wooden snowshoes, lampshades, fans, dinnerware, golf clubs, hula hoops, crutches and more. It was noon on Tuesday, day one of the popular Bethel Rotary Club Yard Sale, held each August on Cross Street in Bethel.

Some shoppers were clearly veterans – arriving in pickups and pulling wagons and shopping carts or whatever had wheels and could be wrangled through the crowd. But, as in past years, locals had the home-court advantage: they could return the next day when Rotarians unloaded another barnful of entirely different treasures.

Melody Bonnema was one of those saavy return customers. Ironically or not, she was wearing her,  “Were you raised by wolves?” baseball cap. She was holding a slinky and had an apron in her shopping cart. Bonnema planned to return on subsequent days, partially in hopes of finding a rug. On Tuesday, there were slim pickings for rugs.

The yard sale is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day until Monday, Aug. 11, at the corner of Cross and Lincoln streets.

Chaia Alford, of Hanover, was helping his grandmother, a Rotarian. He said people were hovering “like vultures.”

Despite the official opening time of noon on Tuesday, folks began arriving between 10:30-11 a.m., and by 11:30 a.m. some were trying to sneak into the tent. Alford said the 25 Rotarians had to put on their aprons, “so they could tell who was working and who was trying to sneak in.”

Rotarian Scott Parker has led the yard sale effort for the past two years. This year, Parker said, they’re on track to surpass last year’s $33,000 in sales. Online sales through Facebook Marketplace helped. The team also sped up the checkout process by accepting Venmo.

“People from two, three hours away came up to buy stuff from us. Amazing,” he said.

Glassware, plates and pots were available on one end of the sale, while mint-condition couches and beautiful bureaus were on the other. “We have a long way to go,” Parker said, referring to the volume of items still to be moved from the barns to the tents on Cross Street. Over the past few years, they have focused on improving the layout – spacing items out instead of crowding them together.

Parker said the local Masons asked to partner with them this year, so they may secure matching funds needed to apply for grants.

“We said, ‘no problem,’ since all the grants are to benefit the people of Bethel,” Parker said.

Longtime Papoose Pond vacationer Bill Richard bought a camp chair, hula hoops, and a rock tumbler for his wife, a kindergarten teacher.

“She’ll probably tell me, ‘Why did you buy this?’” he said. Hands full, he added, “I’ll make a trip to my car to unload and come back to buy more stuff I don’t need. That’s why I’m here with my sister and not my wife.”

Betsy Raymond, of Bethel, studied a yellow brocade tablecloth. Using her arms to measure, she said, “Three, six — that’s an eight-foot tablecloth.” She also carried a frame, a stainless steel steamer (her old one had been missing a fin “for 10 years”) and an etched glass casserole dish.

In a nearby tent, Bridget Remington, of Albany, eyed a $100 highboy with four lower drawers and three upper ones. She said she wouldn’t bargain — “not on the first day.” She paints only flawed furniture as a hobby and at noon had already scored an intact oak desk for $50.

Another local, pushing a baby in a double stroller, said she was afraid to set it down – someone might try to buy the carriage.