(Almost) 100 miles of bargain hunting

Don't tell anyone, but Highway 25 between Jackson and Kennett stretches for 97 miles. It's not a secret, it's just that for five days out of the year that section of road is known as the 100-Mile Yard Sale. Its creators fudged a little on the distance, said organizer Ellen Lowe of Bloomfield, because calling it a 100-mile yard sale has more marketing value.

Beginning Thursday and continuing through Sunday, all 97 miles of Highway 25 will be bumper-to-bumper with people who come from all over the world looking for bargains.

This is the sixth year for the sale, and every year it gets a little bigger, Lowe said. It's rather loosely organized. Anyone who wants to have a yard sale simply sets one up.

There's no particular planning, except for the brochure mailed out. The yard sale runs itself. The people who set up their booths run their own sales and keep whatever they earn.

A hundred miles -- well, 97 -- of shopping brings in opportunities for the antique dealers who flock in the first couple of days. Churches and schools have fund raisers throughout the sale. Individuals can sell whatever they're trying to get rid of to many more people than a normal sale would bring in any other weekend.

Sandy Brinkopf of Gordonville has been saving her 6-year-old son's clothes since he was a baby. She's joining with four or five other residents of Shady Brook Subdivision who are banking on people driving off Highway 25 and into the subdivision to see what bargains await them. It will be her first time in the 100-Mile Yard Sale.

"I'm hoping I sell out the first day," she said.

Just about "anything and everything" is available at the yard sale, Lowe said.

Ken Parrett, director of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, said he and his wife got as far as Dexter last year before giving out. He found a miniature wine glass and decanter rack that matches a larger one he bought when he was in the military in Germany. He'd been looking for a miniature set for about 10 years.

"I couldn't believe I found it, and the guy only wanted 10 bucks," he said. "Yeah, I'll take that."

Buying a barn

One woman from California took back with her a barn she saw alongside the road, Lowe said. At first, the owner of the barn said he'd just give it to her if she would tear it down and haul it away, but she insisted on buying it. The barn went to California in a U-Haul truck. The buyer later said she made picture frames from it. She also used the wood for decorations for people who want the "rustic" look in their homes.

"She said she made a mint off that barn," Lowe said. "You would be shocked over what they buy. What you might think is junk is something they are looking for."

Lowe started the 100-Mile Yard Sale after she retired from Wal-Mart because no one else would start the sale. Other states had even bigger sales, and she knew it would work in Southeast Missouri. It just needed someone to put it together.

The first year she spent about $2,000 of her own money promoting and organizing the sale. After that, chambers of commerce along Highway 25 became involved. Now Lowe and the Dexter Chamber of Commerce do most of the planning and mailing. Then she sets up her own display.

Angie Parkman, assistant to the director at the Dexter chamber, said 1,080 brochures were mailed out this year. At least three went to addresses in Alaska. One woman from England visits her sister in Illinois on Memorial Day weekend so she can go to the 100-Mile Yard Sale. Some come from New York. Many people from out of state plan their vacation around the 100-Mile Yard Sale.

The yard sale has become more than just a tourist attraction. It's also an economic boost to the communities up and down Highway 25.

Visitors have booked up nearly all the motel rooms along Highway 25. After the yard sale is over, they will reserve rooms for next year, Lowe said.

"Our restaurants are eating it up," Lowe said. "Our stores profit."

Owners of storage units along the highway rent nearly all of them to people who fill them with furniture, antiques, or whatever they're selling, said Parkman of Dexter.At night, the vendors simply lock the storage unit and open it the next morning, ready for another day of selling. Most of the sales are on Highway 25, although signs direct shoppers to others close by on neighboring streets.

The sprawling yard sale over the Memorial Day weekend has attracted a rodeo near Dexter that counts on attracting spectators who are in town looking for bargains. A car show is also planned for this year.

"This is an opportunity to bring outside tourism into our area," Lowe said. "It's our way to say, 'Look at us. We are here.'"

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160