In a city where the people spend more time bundled up in layers of clothing than they do basking in the heat of the sun, summer days are seen as opportunities for outdoor activities.
One such experience is the yard sale.
Today’s event in Reynoldsburg will be one of the many yard sales that will be held across state borders along the US 40 route from Baltimore to St. Louis between May 28 and June 1.
Founded in the early 1980s by the Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society, the annual yard sale in this Columbus suburban community not only encompasses the yard sale component, but also a flea market, a book sale, a bake sale and a pig roast.
On the other hand, the cross-country yard sale event in which the Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society participates, also known as the Annual Historic US 40 Yard Sale, is founded by the owner of The Old Storefront antique store in Dublin, Indiana, Patricia McDaniel, who wanted to provide an affordable activity to her community.
“I wanted to give back a little to my community and some of the other places along 40,” McDaniel says. “I just wanted people to have the opportunity, especially with children, to be able to go out and show them the national road, and not have it crammed down to them in a really straight-laced history lesson.”
While the yard sale in Reynoldsburg is held in conjunction with the US 40 Yard Sale, the organizers at the Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society do not directly correspond with those at the US 40 Yard Sale, just as McDaniel leaves it to the local authorities to facilitate the yard sales in each area.
Instead, acting as the western anchor of the Licking County National Road Yard Sale, it is the major yard sale that occurs in Columbus yearly.
Due to its location at the Heritage Center Museum, the event also serves as an opportunity for people to visit the museum while shopping for furniture, clothing, knickknacks, and other pre-loved goods.
The book sale and the bake sale will be held indoors, while the flea market, the yard sale and the pig roast will be happening outdoors.
“The people in the community donate things to us, and then we put them out and whatever proceeds come in, those proceeds are for the historical society,” Mark Myers, president of the Reynoldsburg-Truro Historical Society, says. “It is our biggest fundraiser of the year.”
According the McDaniel, Ohio has always been a strong participant in the annual yard sale event, and Myers has also seen continuous growth in both attendance and reception within the Reynoldsburg community.
“It’s a way for people to reconnect with their past,” McDaniel says.
The Reynoldsburg yard sale is slated for 9 am to 4 pm today. For more info, visit www.facebook.com/nationalroadyardsale.
