I was whizzing down the highway when a large, hand-painted sign on the side of a barn caught my eye, “Huge Barn Sale!” At 70 mph, the “should I, or shouldn’t I?” thinking reflected in erratic driving. “Oh, why not?” I looked for a place to make a U-turn and proceeded to investigate what a “Huge Barn Sale!” was all about.
This always happens every year about 10 days before Labor Day, which, you may-or-may not know, is Old Threshers time in Mt. Pleasant. Old Threshers is when the whole town and countryside for miles around turns into one big yard sale or, in this case, Barn Sale.
Pulling into the driveway, all I could see was a dilapidated old barn with, well, junk scattered all around. Then I noticed someone moving amongst the artifacts, then someone else. They seemed to be part of the terrain. Then someone else moved a leg. It was a man sitting cross-legged on a chair in front of the barn. The person turned out to be Charlie Hemphill, whose barn it was. Every year, at this time, Charlie takes his “vacation” and spends 11 days, operating this “Huge Barn Sale!”
Does he go to flea markets to find all this stuff? No way! Charlie Hemphill doesn’t “do” flea markets. What he does do is go to small estate auctions; town clean-up days, where stuff is set out on the curb for the taking (“one man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” is Charlie’s motto); and Charlie buys up whole garages full of stuff. If you’re moving, and want to get rid of extraneous material, Charlie Hemphill is your man.
Amongst the accumulation at the “Huge Barn Sale!” were items such as hubcaps, heads for sledge hammers, furniture, doors, windows, dishes, picture frames, tools, books, car parts, sheet music, globes for lightning rods, and you-name-it. While I was standing there, a lady from Tennessee asked Charlie if he had a Ford air gauge.
“Sure.”
She also asked if Charlie would take an out-of-state check.
“Sure.” Charlie has never gotten a bad check. He figures if a check bounces, that person needs the money worse than he does.
An entire windmill is laid over on its side on a hay rack, ready to be hauled off and erected in someone’s yard. Hmmm.
But the grand prize of all was a pretty blue, genuine, electric bicycle.
Yes!
The bike belongs to Charlie’s brother, Paul, who is home from Alaska and helping Charlie this year. The bike is a Sharper Image Electric Cruiser, with a battery powered electric motor on the rear hub. Simply amazing. I took the electric bike for a ride. Its top speed is about 20 mph, with a range of 15 to 20 miles. Cool.
Did I mention honey? Charlie and Paul’s parents have bee hives and sell honey. Of course, I had to have a jar of pure Iowa honey.
If you’re looking for a huge barn sale to end all barn sales, go to the intersection of 150th Street and Highway 218, just north of Donnellson, Iowa. You can’t miss it.
It’s not the junk Charlie likes, it’s the people.
“Every piece of junk has a story,” and Charlie Hemphill knows’em all. Just let your imagination run wild.
Have a good story? Call Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant toll-free at 1-866-385-3955 or email him at cswarm@humana.com