Community turns out for annual Junk in the Trunk sale

Bloomington residents Tom and Pam Rude were in search of antiques and Lincoln Logs for school while walking through the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department’s annual Junk in the Trunk community rummage sale Saturday morning.

“I found some good things,” Pam Rude said. “The sale was very large and had a lot of nice things this year.”

Relocated Frank Southern Ice Arena parking lot for more space, the rummage sale consisted of 52 local Bloomington vendors hoping to sell unused items.

“We moved the location from Bryan Park because we could only have 40 spaces,” said Kelly McGlaothlin, a part-time worker for the Parks and Recreation Department. “Here, there are 70 open spaces with more accessible parking.”

Prices varying from 25 cents to $200 attracted local Bloomington residents.

Each vendor presented items from kitchen utensils to a rare Christmas Edition Barbie.

Bloomington resident Kelli Abdon said the first items to leave her rummage space were antique plates.

“We sold many books, dolls and chairs, but the antique plates and growlers, old glass jars, were the very first things to sell,” Abdon said.

Near the end of the sale, most vendors dropped their prices by 50 to 75 percent.

After noon, most vendors began to pack what they didn’t sell and made their way toward Goodwill.

“People talk you down, or you drop prices,” resident Sarah Conaway said. “We just want to get rid of stuff.”

— Jessica Campbell