Manchester Gets Ridiculous with Sidewalk Sales

Manchester was “ridiculous” on Thursday, with bargains, games, hippies, kangeroos and ping pong balls.

It was all part of the Manchester Chamber’s Ridiculous Sidewalk Sales. The Ping Pong Ball Drop, which was always a favorite in years past, returned this year – with 650 ping pong balls dropped from a crane onto South Franklin Street below, with a crowd of people scrambling to grab as many as they could. Chamber Director Laura Holtz:

Each ping pong ball featured the name of one of fourteen local businesses, with recipients encouraged to bring the ball into that business by this weekend to redeem it.

A few members of the West Delaware Cross Country Team were among those who claimed a few ping pong balls. After the drop, they returned to running their game at the Momentum Screen Prints’ booth that was set up in the middle of the street that was blocked off downtown. Jackson Garcia, Clay Mather and Brenden White were having a good time acting as a human slot machine. 

Other businesses had booths and games set up as well – and around the corner on East Main Street, you could find half-price shoes displayed on racks outside Thompson Shoes and tables on the sidewalk filled with bargains outside of The Quiltmaker’s Shoppe. And at Heims’ Awards and Custom Gifts, you could find deals AND baby kangaroos.

That’s Amanda Quatrochi, who says it was a fun day giving people a chance to pet and hold the baby kangaroos. 

You never know what you’ll find at Manchester’s Ridiculous Sidewalk Sales! The sidewalk sales throughout Manchester run through Saturday. 

photos courtesy of Janelle Tucker/KMCH