Grand Rapids

While my mom was more involved with my extra-curriculars in high school, there were things that were more so just Dad and me growing up. One of those things was the Northern Minnesota Swap Meet and Car Show, or as we called it "Grand Rapids" (since it took place in Grand Rapids. Crazy, right?). It was this giant outdoor rummage sale where hundreds of people would convene to sell a variety of stuff. There was a long stretch of time where Dad and I would rent out a few squares to sell stuff and usually Grandpa was there too. Grandpa would sell antiques from his store, Dad would sell coins and collectables, and I would sell toys.

I think this was one of the reasons where I came to appreciate thrift stores and secondhand shops. Since it would have been boring to sit in the booth the entire weekend, Dad would let me wander and see what other people had to sell. It was cool to look around and see if a booth had a certain "theme". Coca-Cola memorabilia, baseball cards, old car parts & military surplus - each vendor had a specialty when it came to their merchandise. You could also get a sense of which vendors thought they had the best stuff based on how much they priced common-not-crazy-special items.

During the year, Dad and I would go to secondhand stores and sometimes rummage sales to look for stuff to sell at Grand Rapids. It came to be this fun little tradition of ours (outside of sleeping in the car). Of course, I'm sure my dad would want me to share a certain Grand Rapids story.

I was probably in elementary school and I was walking around booths with my dad. One woman had this vintage cash register that looked quite appealing to a young child. I started to push some of the buttons and the woman abruptly asked "Are you going to buy that?". I said no and she said that I shouldn't be touching it then. From that point on, I try not to touch stuff in that type of setting unless I'm actually intent on buying it, rather than just fiddling. Dad always gets a kick out of that story. He sometimes follows this story with the time I set part of a fold-out chair on his food and sat down while he was talking to a random guy about old coins. Again, elementary school me wasn't fully in tune with his surroundings.

Today, Michelle and I went to a community rummage sale right by Lambeau. Like I told her, it was a decent approximation to Grand Rapids, although only a small indoor slice with a denser crowd to wade through. (Quite a few people would go to Grand Rapids to buy stuff, but the rummage sale took over an entire fairgrounds when you figured in the car show, food booths, etc.) I ended up getting a Peanuts tie, which I will hopefully wear to work soon. We also went to St. Vincent de Paul to shop instead of volunteer this time around and Michelle picked up some work clothes. I forgot that she really enjoys thrift shopping too. (My parents were also really into antiquing, but I'm not as much.)

Today was Inspire Your Heart with Art Day and a few of the booths did have some fun art of display, like paintings, and outdoor floral arrangements.

DFTBA.