Old Fashioned Days 2023 was a resounding success! There were lots of events and lots of folks in the Village to enjoy them. The weather behaved itself and the highway department allowed the parade to cross M-66 for the first time in many years. It’s always nice when the powers that be are generous. In those immortal words of the late Ova Brown, “…and a good time was had by all!” We hear that the rummage sale at the Methodist Church was a big success. It really reminded me of those held there when I was a Blevins Street girl. I am sure that it was in spirit only, for the Old Fashioned Days rummage of 2023 was a far cry from the Methodist rummage sales of the 1950’s. Two Marion churches held them each year, the folks at St. Agnes and the United Methodists, who held several. Both filled their church basements with donated goods and hung out Rummage Sale signs. For many years the Methodist ladies hung the same primitively painted board with RUMMAGE in black on white on it at the basement door. That was all it took for the Blevins Street girls to rush home for our precious nickels and dimes. It was time to shop. Long before the days that Princess dress-up finery and all the accessories were just a click away on Amazon, the Blevins Street girls filled their dress-up carts locally at church rummage sales. There was nothing we liked better than a good, old fashioned, rummage in a church basement. My Blevins Street cohorts, Sue and Liz, and I, saved our allowances from the time we learned that there was a sale planned until it happened. We generally got a few more coins slipped our way by understanding moms. We also began a wish list of items we hoped had been donated. High on our want list were everyday things like “mink” stoles, a cast-off formal or two with lots of netting, and hats with feathers and/or lots of sequins. We loved purses and jewelry too. We also shopped for flashy, high heeled shoes, and the higher and flashier, the better. Those we generally found, fake minks and taffeta, not so much. A certain “can-can” kind of underskirt, much like the ones used by square dancing ladies, did come our way. It gave us much joy. Purses and gaudy jewelry were highly regarded too. We thought we had the world by the tail on dress-up play days. Those were very happy days for we three, and the memories of the Methodist rummage sales still make us smile. Sue and I just enjoyed a big laugh about those days. She reminded me how we could never wait to get home to check out our purchases. As soon as we left the church basement we stopped, sat down on the curb and put on our new high heeled shoes, and maybe a hat. We then happily picked up our bags and wobbled and clopped our way back to Blevins Street. We couldn’t have been happier if it had been a Paris runway. Fashion should be so much fun and easy these days. Last year when my sister-in-laws and I had our farewell, never going to do this again garage sale, we meant it. No more of this hard work. Never, ever again was our cry. The Gardener was in total agreement. He banned all sales in from ‘his’ garage after the last one. Proverbial Hell must have frozen over for we find ourselves deep in the midst of garage sale preparations once again. In the spirit of those great sales of the past, and all of the great things we want gone, we are throwing a garage sale this weekend at the Winterfield Twp Hall, 8987 Cook Ave., Marion. Friday, Aug 11, 9am-5pm – Saturday, Aug 12, 9am-3pm. Come see us!!If you’ve been to our sales before, and a lot of folks have, you will find our eclectic collection of antique and vintage items as interesting as ever. If you’re looking for an unusual display item, or to add to a collection of art pottery, or maybe a lemonade pitcher like grandma’s, we just might have it. Or perhaps something you didn’t know you wanted will jump up and say, “Take me with you!” This week’s photo is one of Grandpa Ward and me on a visit to the farm in 1957. I am dressed up in my aunt’s plaid coat and sporting a hat with silk flowers and carrying an old purse. There were no high heel shoes in Grandma Ward’s dress up bag, ever.