Boy, oh boy, is it a great week to be a Nashvillian. Why, you ask? Oh, only the biggest gathering this side of Wilson County – it’s the bi-annual Watertown, TN mile-long yard sale! THIS Saturday (April 22 – rain or shine).
They put on this shin dig just twice a year – once in the Spring and once in the Fall, but with all that’s going on in the Fall, I usually only make time for one flea market/craft fair/giant yard sale, and that’s the mother of all craft festivals: Bell Buckle.
But, in April, the mile long yard sale is almost like the rites of Spring for me. This is the official unofficial gateway to summer time. Once we hit this event, you know the long days of sunshine are ahead.
You can check out details on this fine event here, but let me just tell you a little bit about my history with this event.
First of all, Watertown is like a dozen miles off the interstate, and every other house on the way from I-40 (Lebanon) to H2Otown has a yard sale the same day. It’s called good business, people. But, they’re everywhere. Calling this a “mile long” yard sale just doesn’t do it justice.
I’ve attended this bad boy every year for what feels like the last decade. There’s a man there who sells $1 comic books and I always end up spending way too much money with the guy. I remember my dad coming home with lawnmowers, tools, random antiques, and all sorts of stuff. I’ve bought beer signs, action figures, shirts, and all kinds of random trinkets.
And of course, they turn the town square into a haven of fried food. Fried oreos, corn dogs, fried green tomatoes – the whole nine yards.
But, my proudest moment came in 2015. See, a year earlier in 2014, I happened to have been hosting a poker tournament the night of the mile-long yard sale. I wanted a prize to give away to the night’s champion, and knowing that sometimes, you find old bowling trophies at yard sales, set out to find something.
I wasn’t disappointed. A man had two trophies for sale that had to have been made in the 1970s. Both had a little rust on ’em, a few screws loose, and some of the paint chipping off. They also featured a horse sculpture atop them. They were perfect. I bought one for $3, and the man said he’d give them both over for $5. Not seeing a need for the second trophy, I passed. Said I didn’t have a use for the other one.
Fast forward to 2015, and our annual poker tournament just so happens to fall on the same date as the Watertown mile long yard sale AGAIN! I’m immediately kicking myself for not buying BOTH horse trophies. I’m anxiously wondering if the same vendor will be there and if, an entire calendar year later, he will still have that second horse trophy. I was overcome with emotion when I wandered over to the same shelter where the man was in 2014 and saw his booth still standing there as it was the year before. I broke out into what was nearly a dead sprint, searched all of his tables, and found the horse trophy, as pristine as it was the first time I laid eyes on it. I’m getting goosebumps just reliving this – a little choked up, too.
It was serendipitous. To quote the great Ric Flair, “With a tear in my eye, this is the greatest day of my life.”
Anyway, my point in making this post is to tell you that some of the SoBros crew will be attending this yard sale and will be corresponding live from the event, gathering content, and just generally having a grand ol’ time.
Let’s be real, though – that doesn’t mean shit for you, the reader. But, let me tell you what does. We will be picking out one random yard sale item to give away to one lucky reader. We don’t know what item is, and it will probably be something of completely no use to you, but we’re going to have some fun with it.
If you want to be entered into the drawing, simply reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter (contact info below) or e-mail us (thesobrosnetwork@gmail.com because I’m too cheap to pay for e-mail hosting yet) and let us know you want in.
We will draw the name on Facebook Live after we get back from the event.
Man….CAN’T WAIT.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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