Monday January 5, 2009

For Those Who Asked About Mud Sales

Concerning my Friday Entry

I asked our daughter to email me the description of a mud sale from the magazine she is preparing.

What are Mud Sales?

At the beginning of every year, local communities come together to support their local volunteer fire companies by holding auctions that have affectionately become known as Mud Sales. The term Mud Sale was coined from the condition of the ground when the auctions are held. Since the 1960s, Mud Sales have helped build fire houses, purchase equipment, and enable training for fire fighters, EMS units, and First Responders in rural Lancaster, Chester, and York Counties. Area townships, the Amish community, and local businesses support the sales with donated and consigned items, becoming a bargain hunter’s paradise.

For over 40 years, Mud Sales have become spectacular events with various items being auctioned, including but not limited to: building materials, horses, ponies, mules, tack and feed, antiques, Amish-made furniture, craft items, buggies, carriages, tools, farming equipment and supplies, tractors and engines, groceries and produce, garden items, shrubbery, plants, sheds and gazebos, sporting goods, firewood, housewares, and some of the most amazing Amish quilts one could ever find.

Come hungry! Mud Sales begin at 8:30 AM, but breakfast is usually served around 7 AM with warm, fresh doughnuts and/or breakfast sandwiches and fresh coffee, all provided by the Ladies Auxiliary. If you miss breakfast, no worries, feast on traditional PA Dutch foods such as: stromboli, barbecue chicken, sausage sandwiches, chicken corn noodle soup, soft pretzels, oyster sandwiches, smoked meats, cheeses, pies, cakes, cookies, breads, homemade ice cream, and more.