Ski swap cancelled after 32 years

The popular ski swap held at San Ramon Valley High School on the first weekend of every November has been cancelled this year. For three decades it was held in the two gyms at the high school but now the new main gymnasium is under construction.

“It was planned but it didn’t work out,” said Principal Joe Ianora. “We have too many facility issues going on.”

“This would have been its 32nd year,” noted Sandy Garcia, ski swap chairwoman. “It’s truly a small business that happens within 48 hours. Everything that could happen – from a credit card machine not working to shoplifting – has happened in the 48 hours.”

For many years, the ski swap was held in both the small and large gymnasiums on campus. Then the large gym was knocked down, due to earthquake concerns.

“Last year and the year before that we had the ski swap in the cafeteria and the small gym,” said Garcia.

Now that the small gym has been demolished to make way for the new gym, she had hoped to use the new auxiliary gym this year, but sporting events are scheduled.

“The problem is there is only one facility,” Ianora said. “In order to set up the ski swap properly, you need two or three days, and we can’t relinquish that facility.”

Garcia said she and her committee considered renting a tent but the cost was prohibitive and it would have too large an impact on the campus since it would have to be erected Friday and taken down Monday.

“I looked at moving it off campus, into another gymnasium or warehouse, but I couldn’t find one, or the facilities were booked,” she said.

She also inquired about holding it in the cafeteria and classrooms. And the committee considered scaling down the size of the event to hold it in just the cafeteria.

“But with the size the swap has grown to, we decided that was not an option either,” said Garcia. “At that point we came to an agreement with the administration that it was probably best to postpone it for a year.”

A couple of thousand people would attend the ski swap each year. Last year is raised $35,000 for grants for the teachers at San Ramon Valley High School. The year before that, it raised $27,000; and the year before that, $45,000.

“Danville also loses out since it will not receive tax income from an event that generates over $200k in sales over one weekend,” noted Garcia. “Not to mention that the people who come into town for the swap typically head downtown to have lunch after shopping.”

“It’s also a big chunk of change for the vendors not to have these sales,” she added.

The swap began as a garage sale type of event, she said, but has grown into one of Northern California’s largest ski board swaps.

“Jackie Lawrence ran it for six or eight years and she really brought it up to a high standard,” Garcia noted about her immediate predecessor. “She used bar codes on the inventory.”

Looking to next year, Garcia asks the public if anyone knows of a facility that could be used on a yearly basis that is the size of two gymnasiums. She is looking for something in the Danville-San Ramon-Walnut Creek-North Dublin area. Contact Garcia at srvswap@aol.com.

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