Making the Sale in 28376

Posted by: Jenn Latino
Fundraising for the 3-Day is not an easy task! With 6 of the New Kids still striving to reach their minimum fundraising goal, it is time to pull out the big guns! And by guns, I mean bazookas! Yard Sale Style!

This weekend I was lucky to host the New Kids yard sale with the help, and by help I mean they did all of the work and I just rolled into town on Friday, of my mom and my aunt. Linda and Bunkie are no strangers to yard sales. You will recall that I sang their praises in a previous post: One Family’s Trash What I arrived to was the finest rummage Hoke County has ever seen! My SUV was packed to the tip top with the treasures of my Columbia friends. Mom and Bunk had 2 additional SUVs and a pick up truck loaded and ready to go.

Now, I walk every morning, with the exception of Friday, at 5:45 a.m. I am no stranger to the dark before the dawn. But when Mom gave me the “It’s time to get up” greeting that I groaned at for 18 years, I was not the happiest camper. But I rallied! I mean, after all, it’s not like I had to walk 10 miles. It was just a yard sale!

Just a yard sale. What an understatement! This yard sale was taking place in the front yard of The Bargain Barn. The Bargain Barn is owned by Roger and his lovely wife Wanda Sue. They are the one-stop-shop for all of your antique goodies. In addition to 1,000s of square feet of perfectly organized, certified, “old stuff,” The Bargain Barn sits on a large piece of land with plenty of room for visitors. Every third Saturday Roger opens his lawn to “vendors” and we were among the lucky few this weekend. You have to arrive early to get a good spot by the road and we were in the 2nd and 3rd spaces-excellent real estate!

The traffic in Raeford, NC is not usually very plentiful. This weekend, however, was the annual Turkey Festival! The House of Raeford turkey factory is the Gold sponsor of this annual event and the Hoke County residents anticipate the annual mayhem for weeks in advance. The Bargain Barn is right along the road that leads to downtown Raeford so we were expecting some good traffic!

I would be remiss to those of you who have not visited Raeford if I didn’t give you a brief description of what it is like to drive through the town. Two words: Turkey. Feathers. They are EVERYWHERE! As you pass the House of Raeford, which we did, just before 6am, when the shifts are changing, it looks as if snow has fallen. You are likely to be stopped by an 18 wheeler truck loaded up with…well, since Mandie is one of my most faithful readers, and a vegetarian, I better not go into much more detail. You know where the feathers come from.

Once we got all set up: electronics on one table, candles and glassware on another. Clothes on the rack, books organized by age group under the 2nd knick knack table, large items displayed out front, 4 step ladders displayed prominently near the shoes (because step ladders and shoes make a lot of sense together), and the Team New Kids on the Walk banner and donation jar beautiful hung and displayed. We were open for business!

Throughout the day Roger was a wonderful host. He offered to help with anything we needed as we got set up, shared his kettle corn made by a fellow vendor-which prompted us to get a bag (best $2 we spent all day), and around lunch time came through to ask if anyone wanted a burger from Hardees. It was Roger’s treat but he didn’t take special offers. If you want a burger, you get the one he buys and you can scrape off anything you don’t want. This was not Bunk’s first time at The Bargain Barn event and she had warned me ahead of time of the burger stipulations. Wanda Sue made change for us when we ran out of $1s, and bought a bag full of homemade Christmas ornaments from the “ornament box” in support of our sales efforts.

In addition to our gracious hosts, we met a parade of interesting Raeford residents. From the woman who collects anything Winnie the Pooh (she hit the JACKPOT at our sale) and left with 12 stuffed animals, to the woman who came by 3 times-once by herself, once with a girlfriend, and finally with her husband-and filled her entire backseat with treasures from our booths-the residents were happy to support our team. Mom, dressed in her custom made Atlanta 3 Day pink ribbon shirt, talked boobs with folks, told them about the walk, pointed out “That’s my daughter and she is walking in the Komen 3-Day event. Yea, 60 miles! I know. We are so proud of her!” and thanked them for their support. Bunkie kept the snacks on a steady rotation, and Dad-between loading goodies into customer’s cars, represented the Latino and Garber families at the festival when he went “into town” to see how things were going on Main Street.

The traffic died down as the thermometer inched up and soon it was time to pack it in. Clean up was easier than unloading because we got rid of a lot of crap! By mid afternoon the sale was a wrap and I was tucked away on my folks’ couch enjoying a well-deserved nap!

We made $260, pushing the New Kids a little closer to their goal. Thanks to Roger and Wanda Sue, my mom & dad, Aunt Bunkie & Uncle Lee, and to all of our friends who donated gear to be sold. Mark you calendars now for the 2011 Turkey Festival! It promises to be a fantastic time-and if you get there early enough-you can make a little cash if you set up a booth at The Bargain Barn.