The thrill of the hunt with the chance of finding treasure has always drawn me. That’s the lure of the large city-wide garage sales in my area. My best friend, Tammy, and I make it a point to attend the Neosho city-wide sale every year. We usually hit the Carl Junction and Webb City city-wide sales, too. Last fall, she had to go to the Carl Junction one by herself because I was still too sick. I’m better now and ready to go.
The 2022 Neosho city-wide sale is April 1st and 2nd. There are usually over 400 sales, and the atmosphere is almost festival-like. Helping the festival atmosphere is the fact that many sales have a grill going with everything from hotdogs to authentic tacos. People cook hot dogs, hamburgers, egg rolls, tacos, corn dogs, popcorn, and have a variety of baked goods for sale. Schools, churches, and civic organizations run their fund raisers for everything from mission trips to band camp.
Then there are the food trucks and pop-up stands selling a variety of food and drink. We see everything from popcorn to cupcakes to lemonade. Tammy and I always check out the food vendors in the hopes of finding funnel cakes. We had them one year, but we haven’t been able to find anyone making them since.
We have found all sorts of good stuff over the years. I bought a Wolfgang Puck pan one year that is still my favorite skillet. I’ve bought cool vintage jewelry, toys for my grandkids, clothes, paintings, books, designer handbags, shoes, furniture, and all sorts of other goodies at city-wide sales. I even bought my first Keurig coffee maker at a garage sale. A couple years ago, I bought a wooden file cabinet for my home office that has turned out to be one of my best investments.
Here’s a link to the Neosho Chamber of Commerce website page that shows the map listing current registered sales: https://neoshocc.com/2021NeoshoCityWide-copy. If you click on the map, you can zoom in and see where the sales are located. If you click on the teardrop indicating the location of a sale, the description of that sale pops up. It’s a slick system. There will be several sales that aren’t registered, too.
My husband and the guys at work don’t understand the appeal or why I would put myself through the physical discomfort involved in attending a bunch of garage sales. I’m not going to lie, I’m exhausted and sore for a couple of days afterward, and I’m usually sporting a sunburn. It is so worth it, though. To put things in a perspective they might understand, the Neosho city-wide sale is our big fishing trip. The fun is in spending time together and hoping to catch a big one, just like the guys do when they go fishing.
There is no experience like a good city-wide sale. If you ever have a chance to attend Neosho’s city-wide sale, I highly recommend you see it for yourself. The Neosho city-wide sale is always the first weekend in April unless that falls on Easter. Then it’s the second weekend.
Enjoying the thrill of the hunt has us returning year after year. We drive around looking forward to the next sale, ready to find hidden treasure. If you decide to go this year, I wish you good hunting!
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