More than 8,000 shop downtown at Tailgate Flea Market

Yard-sale items, repurposed and upcycled pieces, jewelry, books, furniture and more sprawled across two parking lots Sunday in downtown Cape Girardeau for the fifth Downtown Tailgate Flea Market.

More than 150 vendors sold wares in booths at Broadway and Main Street and Independence and Main streets, said Paula Haas, owner of Somewhere in Time Antiques at 108 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau and coordinator of the flea market.

The not-for-profit Downtown Merchants Group coordinates each sale, Haas said, is semi-annual -- in October and in May.

At the last sale in October, Haas said the event had 150 vendors, and an estimated 8,000 people came to shop.

"We've surpassed that today," Haas said, adding shoppers aren't necessarily counted, but organizers have an overall idea of the volume.

Jessica Natvig carries her daughter, Blair Eyler, on her shoulders while manning their booth Sunday at the Downtown Flea Market in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

"We're so excited," Haas said.

While several vendors brought yard-sale items, others brought handmade items to sell.

Blacksmith Mark Petzoldt brought pieces he'd made from found objects, including a table made of welded-together hand tools and chains, statues of birds made from combine pickers, owls made of shovel heads and metal pieces, and flowers made from clutch fans and metal stakes welded to a brake rotor base.

Petzoldt was set up behind Debbie Birk and Donna Schoeck's booth, which was dedicated to their upcycled and repurposed items.

Schoeck's Junk and Jewels repurposes found items such as old jewelry and other odds and ends including drawer pulls and anything else that "looks junky" into collages resembling anything from pet portraits to bicycles to a cabin, Schoeck said.

Birk said this was her sixth Downtown Flea Market experience as a seller.

"We came down with a boatload this morning," she said, looking around her space about 1 p.m. Sunday. "We're going to go back with less."

Birk, who goes by her nickname The Junkin' Gal, has a booth at Judith's Antiques at 109 N. Main St. in Cape Girardeau, said her inspiration and materials come from everywhere.

Birk said she finds "junk" at the side of the road, in Dumpsters, at garage sales and thrift stores.

"It's just junk a lot of people are throwing away," Birk said, laughing, but she repaints and reassembles pieces to make a new treasure.

Shopper Casey Hinkebein said she never had been to the tailgate flea market before but wanted to see what it was all about and do some window shopping on a sunny afternoon.

"It is nice to see the community out and about," Hinkebein said.

The goal of the event, Haas said, is to bring people into downtown, where street construction recently was finished.

"It was timed perfectly," Haas said. "I love seeing people walking up and down the streets."

Haas said she wants people to think of the downtown as the heart beat of Cape Girardeau.

"Feel the personality," Haas said.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

108 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

109 N. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.