The thrill of the hunt: Sellers do brisk business at fall citywide rummages

By: 
Jill Meier, Journal editor
Jill Meier/BV Journal 
Brandon’s fall citywide rummages listed more than 100 sales over the three days last week. Roger Mofle shoots the breeze with Darrin Tuenge at his sale. 
Darrin Tuenge was convinced he’d go to his grave with the hundreds of cassette tapes that he owned.
 
But in one swoop, one of the estimated 170 to 180 rummagers who stopped by his home along Robin Drive, was eager to buy the entire lot of them, estimated at 300.
 
“I sold the entire works to one gal for 40 bucks,” Tuenge said Friday morning, which was day two of Brandon’s 10th annual citywide rummage sales. More than 100 rummage sales were listed online, which is a far cry from the very first citywide sales in the spring of 2000, which started with about 25 sales.
 
Thursday’s hot and humid temperatures didn’t keep shoppers away. By 7 Thursday night, Tuenge said he was spent from the long day manning the sale. He said about half of the folks who stopped by his sale were “lookers” and the other half were “buyers.”
 
“One good thing,” he added, “because I’m having a rummage, I can’t go out and buy anything, and I like to buy stuff.”
 
Roger Mofle stopped by Tuenge’s sale on Friday. But he wasn’t in a buying mood.
 
“I just came over to give him a hard time,” Mofle said in a light-hearted way.
 
Over on Seth Street on Friday, Michelle Wheeler was elated the humidity and high temperatures had been replaced with 80-degree temps and less humidity.
 
“Yesterday was busy in the heat,” she said, “but I sold more than half of what I had in the first four hours.”
 
This is the first rummage Wheeler has set up for business. After moving her mother to assisted living in Volga recently, she was left with many of her possessions to either sell, give away or discard.
 
The only items Wheeler listed for her sale was clothing – size 3X – which she said, lured buyers in.
 
“Then they pick up something else, too,” she said.
 
Although traffic had lessened on Friday, Wheeler estimated she had about 100 shoppers at her sale the day before.
 
“They came in groups yesterday, and I probably had a dozen people stop by while I was setting up,” she said.
 
A neighbor down the block set some bikes with a “for sale” sign, and Wheeler said once the bikes were sold, they closed up “shop.”
 
Mother and daughter, Meagen and Jada Lembcke came to Brandon from Volga just for the rummages, which they’ve been here once before for.
 
“I said, ‘It’s a nice day. It’s a Friday, so we’re going shopping,’” said Meagen, who was in the market for a Cricket. “One lady already sold hers and there’s another one out there but it’s probably already gone, too.”
 
Wheeler said what she doesn’t sell – with the exception of a wooden dining room table and chairs – she plans to donate to Goodwill. She’ll keep the table and chairs for one of her children as they leave the nest.
 
While most sellers are looking to make some “flash cash” from their sales, Wheeler said her favorite part “is chit-chatting” with the customers.
 

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