Roosters to road flares and everything between: Shrine Club plans for Second Annual Swap & Sell

By: Jeremy D. Wells

 One of the beautiful things about flea markets, swap meets, and yard sales is not knowing exactly what you might find, and then being completely tickled when you find just what you wanted or needed. Sure, you might go hoping to find a goat or laying hens or pocketknives – and chances are you will nine times out of ten – but the thing that raises the swap meet trip above the mere shopping excursion are those unexpected finds. 

The metal Tonka truck you had as a kid. 

The same style and brand of iron skillet your granny used to cook your breakfast in.

The cassette tape you wore out nursing your first broken heart. 

The guitar you pawned to buy an engagement ring thirty years ago.

Of course, Swap & Sell organizers Lisa Messer Conley and Donny Owens can’t promise you’ll find any of that stuff. But they can’t say you won’t either. What they can promise is that you’ll find a way variety of items. 

“There’s a variety of vendors,” Messer Conley said. “Everybody thinks that it’s only a craft thing, but it’s not. We say as long as it’s legal, it’s allowed.” 

In their first year, 2019, the Swap & Sell featured everything from hardware to fishing rods – and, yes, roosters. Messer Conley said that is what return visitors could expect for their 2021 event. The event was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 quarantines. 

“We sure hope we have that wide variety,” she said. “We’ve put it out that we’re accepting livestock.” 

While they are still accepting vendor slots, Messer Conley said she could confirm some of the products represented. 

“Right now, we have yard sale type items, car items, crafting, t-shirts, wood burning and slate or ceramic engraving, glass engraving, and homemade crafts. We’re just hoping for a huge, wide variety. We’re still accepting vendors. There are no under roof (spots) left, but we still have quite a few spots left.” 

For vendors who plan to stay, she said, the slots on the lawn might be a better option.

“The good thing about that is, if they have a camper that they need to bring with them, they can be right there where their stuff is,” she said. 

Those interested in vending at the event can contact Messer Conley at (606)315-5787 or Donny Owens Jr. at (606)255-0484. 

All funds raised will benefit the Carter County Shrine Club and their charitable support of the Shriners Children’s Hospitals. 

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com