The Fulks Run Ruritan Club held their annual Fourth of July yard sale this weekend. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi paid a visit to see the wares on display and hear how people were feeling about the country on its 250th birthday.
[sounds of people talking, walking]
The temperature was rapidly climbing towards 95 degrees at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and the park in the foothills of the mountains thrummed with activity – people cautiously hopeful for the future of the country, and unabashedly excited for barbecue chicken and Turner ham sandwiches.
Chuck DeHart was one of the club members helping run the show – coming out days earlier to mark off vendor spaces and answering questions on social media. On Saturday morning –
CHUCK DEHART: I was making ham sandwiches! We have people that are flouring pre-sliced Turner ham from just around the corner up here, and then the fryers, and then the sandwich builders and the sellers. And we're just going to do about 960 today, they're figuring. It's a lot of pigs!
Turner Hams is a 77-year-old meat curing operation in Fulks Run – regional legends in the world of salty, savory country ham. The Turner family also helped start the local Ruritan Club and purchase the property where they hold the yard sale and other events. DeHart said a chunk of the club's proceeds go back into maintaining the park.
DEHART: A year ago, we had $100,000 in improvements, thanks to some of our money, some county money, and some church money – added to the playground … we got a track down here, so that's a big piece of it. We help people out here and there when we hear they could use some help – somebody gets burned out or is going for cancer treatments. … We have money going to the food bank. … We gave the county this acreage for the fire department a couple of years ago.
On the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, club member Lena Custer was busy selling breakfast trays, hamburgers, and chili dogs.
LENA CUSTER: So proud to be an American. … Well, we're in the land of the free. … It's a great place, and especially here in Fulks Run, we have a beautiful park that we have for the community to take part in.
Around 125 vendors peddled hand and power tools, 3D-printed toys, antique glassware, porch geese, and baseball cards. Fourteen-year-old Samuel Messina set up next to his grandparents' booth to play guitar and sing. His grandfather started teaching him when he was eight years old.
[Samuel Messina plays "In Color" by Jamey Johnson]
SAMUEL MESSINA: I like country, country-gospel, very, very Christian music.
Ted Lupton, of Winchester, was out selling deer antlers, empty hornets' nests, and antiques. And when asked about the direction our nation is headed in, he admitted that he was concerned.
TED LUPTON: Here, our governor ran as one thing, but she's more to the left of what she said she would run as. But then there are times when she's come back to the center and surprised me.
Lupton disagrees with Gov. Abigail Spanberger's embrace of climate groups like the U.S. Climate Alliance and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
LUPTON: The environment changes, climate changes constantly. We haven't done it. … I read an article in National Geographic – 6,000 years ago, the Sahara Desert was a lush oasis. Man wasn't around with SUVs 6,000 years ago. So I think a lot of that stuff is used for political, monetary gain. … I mean, both parties can get together and do things. I've got more faith in the American people – I've been let down a few times, though.
Libby Makely of New Market came for the barbecue chicken.
LIBBY MAKELY: I will always be proud to be an American, regardless. Too many people have fought and died so that we can do just what we're doing today, and you know, it does make you a little emotional. As far as the direction of the country, I mean – I like the traditions, and I respect our president. I might not always agree with the things he does, but I think if you're an American you should respect our laws and you should vote and participate and be proud of your country.
[chickens clucking]
Live poultry were for sale from a farm in Timberville owned and operated by Verne Leininger, who also teaches math and computer science at Bridgewater College.
VERNE LEININGER: If you go buy brown eggs from the supermarket, they're laid by the red sex links, so they're a good brown egg-laying bird. We have some – the other large birds are the Wyandottes. Wyandottes are more of a heritage breed …
His family operation has been a staple at this yard sale for the past 20 years. As he reflected on the country's 250th anniversary –
LEININGER: I'm happy to be an American. I'm not content with where we are, okay. We still need to get better. But, you know, if you look at the long trajectory over time, we have improved a lot over the years. It's up and down. … I do a lot of business with immigrants, okay. So we have a lot of Kurdish members that come out to the farm and buy lambs. The Hispanics, we sell a lot of chickens, poultry to. So my farm needs the immigrants – let's be blunt, because … for any animal you're going to eat, they're our best customers. … I keep hoping. We're getting better.
Hope, trepidation, pride – the yard sale denizens carried these alongside ducklings, Strite's donuts, fishing poles and figurines as they continued an American experiment 250 years in the making.
