Image Up Advertising & Design

14 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | APRIL 2017 By Cindy Graves Many of you have heard me say more than once, in a joking manner, that if you want to become a "millionaire," just have a garage sale during one of our biannual HOA garage sales. Well, truth be told, there aren't many residents actually making a million dollars selling their treasured items; however, as luck would have it, there have been at least two residents in the last 10 years who have unwittingly purchased items that they thought were interesting and unusual, only to find out later that they were incredibly valuable… The first example, as you probably remember, was last year's purchase of a retired space shuttle, a forgotten treasure in a homeowner's attic. The second story is about Helen Demerol who moved into Four Seasons in 2007 and shortly thereafter attended our first HOA Garage Sale. There were only around 650 residents in the neighborhood then and getting around to all of the homes was a lot easier than it is today. One home especially caught her eye, because there were old roll top desks out on the lawn and some interesting ornate book cases holding antique photos of different kinds. Helen is an avid photographer and was immediately drawn to the photos. One in particular caught her eye. It was an old red velvet and leather framed "Daguerreotype" photo of a smiling young girl named April Jester. Helen was intrigued with the image and purchased it for $15. Later that year she attended a photography conference in Los Angeles and brought the purchase with her to get input about the photo from some of the experts. One of the experts at the conference seemed especially fascinated with the image and recognized that this photographic process actually predated the work of inventor, Louise Jacques Mande' Daguerre (the inventor of "Daguerreotype" photography). This item was one of the first reliably documented attempts to capture an image formed in a "Camera Obscura" using Silver Nitrate, invented by scientist, Thomas Wedgewood in the 1700s, a process called "Heliography." The photography expert announced to the 600 people at the conference that this incredible discovery had just been made. The history of the piece was described and a viewing was set up at a table during one of the conference breaks. A photography collector examined the piece during the viewing and offered Helen $1.7 million to buy the piece. Helen unreservedly accepted the offer. Her comment to me later that week was, "Thanks a Million, HOA Garage Sale!" The most amazing thing to me was not the amount of money that she acquired, but what she decided to do with the newly found wealth. She decided to set-up a trust fund that upon her death, one million dollars would be given to the Four Seasons Community Association for the purpose of promoting and furthering future HOA Garage Sales; including a scholarship fund for residents not able to pay the $7 City Garage Sale permit fees. This kind of selfless generosity is such a rare commodity these days and restores our faith in the principle of "good things happen to good people." May your garage sale finds turn out to be equally prosperous…. April Fool! Thanks a Million! HOA Garage Sale's Stunning Discovery "The photography expert announced to the 600 people at the conference that this incredible discovery had just been made… a viewing was set up at a table during one of the conference breaks." Four Seasons Spotlight Little April Jester

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