There was a ‘Mennonite Relief Sale’ at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds and we decided to check it out. I thought it was like one of the little bake sales that the churches have at home. NOT! There were multiple barns filled with homemade food stuffs, from baked goods of every description, jams and jellies to headcheese, homemade cheeses, sausage, AND crafts and sewing of all kinds. There were two auctions going on in separate barns. One for antiques and I saw some things going for what down our way would be ‘give away’ prices. One baby buggy, probably a hundred years old for $35! (Oh…for the room in the RV to carry things!) And in the other barn…hundreds of quilts. I watched while one sold for $75 but the next one, an heirloom piece, was at $2300 and going up…when we walked away.
We found out the next day they had raised almost $600,000 for their charities! This is one of the most famous quilt auctions in the world.
Rick is picking up a bag of Kettle Corn…it’s delicious!
In the afternoon we went to the nation’s largest antique, collectibles and craft mall…The Borkholder Dutch Village in Nappanee. What an amazing place. There are over 450 booths. To give you some idea of the size…I COULDN’T EVEN FINISH HALF OF IT! I literally shopped till I dropped. And they have the most wonderful crafts I’ve ever seen in one place. It merits a second visit. (Maybe a third!)