What can you do when it’s Tulip Festival time in Mt. Vernon, but it’s too wet to get up close and personal with the tulips or daffodils?
Well, you can visit the indoor displays at Tulip Town or RoozenGarde. You can go to one of the numerous art shows or the downtown street fair. You can feast at the Kiwanis Salmon Barbecue, daily at Hillside Park. Or if it’s the right weekend, you can attend the World’s Largest Garage Sale at the Mt. Vernon Fairgrounds. The fairground buildings are filled with vendors selling everything from antiques to zoology textbooks.
Son Rob started a sideline business this spring, with the help of his teenage daughter Annie and her brother Kevin. Have you ever wondered what happens to the contents of those ubiquitous storage units when renters default on their rent? What they’ve stored is forfeited to auction. Rob and other bidders are allowed to look through the door at what they can see. Then the entire contents of a unit goes to the highest bidder.
Next comes the treasure hunt. It’s amazing what people store, and what they will buy! Rob and Kevin haul the truckloads of items home, where they sort them. Annie photographs saleable items and advertises them on Craigslist. Once a week they have a home garage sale for those responding to Craigslist ads. And during the yearly Tulip Festival they rent a space at the World’s Biggest Garage Sale for the rest.
Here are some links to help you enjoy the Tulip Festival (and the Garage Sale):
www.kiwanismv.net/salmon_barbeque.html
www.tulipfestival.org/
www.tulipfestival.org/calendar/event/532/
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| Waiting for customers |
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| Customers |
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| Donuts and coffee |
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| Love the get-me-out-of-here expression |
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| Bargains galore |
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| Rob and Kevin |
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| Annie and Lydia ready to go to work |
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| Another vendor's offerings |
What an interesting to do--go through storage areas. I imagine one would learn a lot about people. Wasn't there a TV show about people doing that--sort of a treasure hunt theme? I only saw snatches of it.
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