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Flea market nano-gloat
On my way to the Western MD Blues Fest yesterday, I went through Harpers Ferry to visit their huge flea market which has been a regular stop for me for 20 or 30 years or so. I was shocked to discover that it had closed, the land having been sold to Civil War Preservation Trust. I saw some signs to another flea market further down Rt340 toward Charles Town, where there is an indoor flea market in Halltown, and now I found a mostly empty field with a few tables and several vendors. One guy had a table full of old tools, mostly badly rusted and busted junk, but I got this handy little outlet box for $2 and two Vise-Grips for $1.50 each:
A young woman at another table sold me the Band-Aids for $1.50.
The guy at the first table was interesting to talk to (which is really a primary attraction of flea markets and yard sales). He was originally from Glen Burnie (S of Baltimore) and moved a few years ago to WV where he was able to buy an old house and several acres of land adjacent to the Appalachian Trail for $20,000. Of course, he said it's hard to find work paying more than $8/hour, so he supplements his income buying and selling tools and stuff for cheap, but he likes the environment and the people. Recently he saw smoke on the mountain where his house was, and he called his neighbors and warned them of the major brush fire that was raging on the other side of the ridge and not immediately visible because of the unusual direction of the wind. They pooled their resources, cutting fire breaks and taking other emergency action along with the fire company who arrived some time later (access only by badly rutted dirt roads), and saving their homes. That is the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect that is taken for granted in "the country" but is so sadly lacking in much of suburbia and the cities.
Anyway, I wish him the best of luck building this new flea market, but it's going to be tough to regain the size and dynamics of the old one. I'll probably stop by again when I'm in the area June 19-21 (at the Hagerstown KOA for Men&Machine and the Summer Solstice). And I will look into the possibility of purchasing the harpersferryleamkt.com domain and using it for a website for the new flea market. I'd like to promote and encourage such an enterprise in any way I can. I believe strongly in Recycling, Repairing, Re-selling, and other "Rs" that benefit the environment and help people minimize their cost of living.
A young woman at another table sold me the Band-Aids for $1.50.
The guy at the first table was interesting to talk to (which is really a primary attraction of flea markets and yard sales). He was originally from Glen Burnie (S of Baltimore) and moved a few years ago to WV where he was able to buy an old house and several acres of land adjacent to the Appalachian Trail for $20,000. Of course, he said it's hard to find work paying more than $8/hour, so he supplements his income buying and selling tools and stuff for cheap, but he likes the environment and the people. Recently he saw smoke on the mountain where his house was, and he called his neighbors and warned them of the major brush fire that was raging on the other side of the ridge and not immediately visible because of the unusual direction of the wind. They pooled their resources, cutting fire breaks and taking other emergency action along with the fire company who arrived some time later (access only by badly rutted dirt roads), and saving their homes. That is the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect that is taken for granted in "the country" but is so sadly lacking in much of suburbia and the cities.
Anyway, I wish him the best of luck building this new flea market, but it's going to be tough to regain the size and dynamics of the old one. I'll probably stop by again when I'm in the area June 19-21 (at the Hagerstown KOA for Men&Machine and the Summer Solstice). And I will look into the possibility of purchasing the harpersferryleamkt.com domain and using it for a website for the new flea market. I'd like to promote and encourage such an enterprise in any way I can. I believe strongly in Recycling, Repairing, Re-selling, and other "Rs" that benefit the environment and help people minimize their cost of living.
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