St Luke Church does the annual tent-troupe thang in its parking lot this weekend, thus marking the unofficial start of yard-sale season.

Okay, so some of the stuff on sale is inexplicable — mismatched dishes and pieces of silverware, strange holiday decorations and sadistic exercise equipment straight out of the Spanish Inquisition.

But one can also score serious gems, like this bad boy that Penguin photog Ron Pace picked up at last year’s event. Total expense: 50 cents. True value: priceless.

For more info on this and other yard sales in the area, visit The Penguin’s new yard-sale directory. Then check out what else is rocking Silver Spring this weekend:

Friday

All day. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association holds its annual bike-to-work day. Morning pit stops — including those at Discovery Communications and the FDA facility at White Oak — serve breakfast to registered riders. Click here to learn more.

5:30 p.m. Jazz guitarist Michael L. Gary II performs at the Arts Alley at Blair Mill (8030 Georgia Ave). This event is free and open to the public.

6:30 p.m. Kefa Cafe’s Space 7:10 (963 Bonifant St) hosts a reception for photographer and artist Daniel Reyes. This event is free and open to the public.

6:30 p.m. Artist Tom Block discusses “prophetic activist art” to induce change in a postmodern society. This free event takes place at Space 88 (8211 Mayor Ln) and is open to the public.

Saturday

7:00 a.m. St Luke Lutheran Church (9100 Colesville Rd) holds its annual yard sale until the early afternoon. Shop early, shop often. There is no admission for this event.

9:00 a.m. It’s opening day for Takoma Park-Silver Spring rookie baseball! The Silver Spring (Fighting) Penguins take on the Austin Grillers at the Lee Jordan Park (31 Oswego Ave, Takoma Park), field no. 2. This event is free and open to the public.

9:00 a.m. The Freshfarm farmers market takes place until 1:00 p.m. on Ellsworth Drive, between Fenton Street and Georgia Avenue. There is no admission for this event.

12:00 p.m. Montgomery College’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus (7600 Takoma Ave, Takoma Park) hosts a teen health fair, with a focus on HIV and AIDS, until 4:00 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

2:00 p.m. Art historian Stanislaw Chojnacki discusses the work of Ethiopian artist Ayegneshu Engida at the Gateway Heliport Gallery (8001 Kennett St). This event is free and open to the public.

3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The kids’ theater troupe Lumina Studio performs Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Round House Theatre (8641 Colesville Rd). Tickets are $12 each.

7:30 p.m. Oneness Place (962 Wayne Ave) hosts a reception for painter and musician Milagros Phillips until 9:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

8:00 p.m. The Bach Sinfonia performs Baroque compositions by Heinrich Ingaz Franz von Biber (”Stabat Mater“), Salamon Rossi (motets and psalms from “Hashirim Asher Lish’lomo [The Songs of Solomon]”) and Giacomo Carissimi (”Historia di Jephte“). This event takes place at the Woodside United Methodist Church (8900 Georgia Ave). Tickets are $28 ($25 for seniors, $15 for students).

Sunday

11:00 a.m. Pyramid Atlantic Art Center (8230 Georgia Ave) serves brunch to raise money for art-education programs in Montgomery County and The District. Contact Sarah Levine at slevine@pyramid-atlantic.org for more information.

3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The kids’ theater troupe Lumina Studio performs Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Round House Theatre (8641 Colesville Rd). Tickets are $12 each.

Lead photo: Assorted tchotchkes from last year’s St Luke rummage sale. Credit: R. Pace/SSP.

Updated May 16, 2008, at 11:30 a.m.