US-127 Yard Sale kicks off Thursday

ANDERSON COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) — The world’s largest yard sale along US-127 starts Thursday – going from Michigan, all the way to Alabama.

In Kentucky, most of the vendors are already set up and have been for the last few days.

We visited with vendors, customers and property owners about what to expect and the challenges in this most unusual year.

Anderson County has the biggest sale in the state.

“I’m gonna say I have about 250 to 350 vendor booths. Now one vendor may have four booths,” says property owner Jenna Sims.

Customers browsing Wednesday – some all the way from Florida – were excited to be here and the vendors were even more thrilled.

“You better come because you won’t know what you might miss,” says vendor Timmy Perry.

Perry was going to be upset if the coronavirus pandemic cancelled the yard sale. He’s been a vendor here going on nine years.

“I draw a check so this helps my income,” says Perry.

He’s not the only vendor here who has been financially impacted by COVID.

“A lot of these vendors they really depend on this,” says Sims. “They’re just thrilled to try to get some money to pay their bills, their mortgage, their rent, put food on the table.”

Sims says her family debated long and hard about whether to host the sale but when the local health director gave them the okay with added safety measures, they couldn’t deny folks the opportunity to make some needed money.

“If you’re shopping inside with us masks are required at all times. Our vendors are to have hand sanitizer available to the public. We also have our restrooms being sanitized much more frequently,” says Sims.

Masks are encouraged outside and vendors are more spaced out.

But as expected, the virus has kept some away.

“It’s not as busy as we thought it would be but it’s not slow either. And there’s a lot of good stuff, says customer Brandi.

Sims says some of her old vendors decided to sit this one out but said they’d be back next year.

The yard sale goes until Sunday. Keeping safety in mind, she hopes more people turn out.