Half-century antique sale in Sesser older than some of the antiques sold
How many people do you know that would get up at 3 a.m., drive to another town, unload their van full of antiques at 4 a.m. and wait for customers who would all be gone by noon?
Well if you visit Miners Memorial Park in Sesser on any Tuesday morning in the spring, summer or fall, you'll meet several people who do exactly that.
For more than half a century, a band of enterprising Southern Illinoisans have flocked to Sesser to set up tables and peddle their wares.
Richard Colyer of Royalton is one of them.
"I really don't mind getting up that early," he said. "It's a great way for me to pass the time."
Colyer's offerings Tuesday included some old cigar boxes, old knives, a ceramic coffee pot, a set of binoculars, cake pans and some mid-20th century Pyrex bowls.
For shoppers like Frank Arnold, it's the old tools that catch his eye. "I find something nearly ever time I come here. Today I bought an old monkey wrench for $3. It's probably worth $30."
Former longtime Sesser mayor Ned Mitchell said that the Tuesday flea market is a Sesser tradition that has been around as long as he can remember.
"I was only about 5 years old when my dad first took me to one. I'm 68 now, so that gives you a pretty good idea of how long it's been here."
Mitchell added that when it was first started by local auctioneer Cole Shelton in the 1940s, it was held on the east side of town on the parking lot of Shelton's weekly livestock auctions. When that property changed hands, the Sesser city fathers decided to offer the city park location to keep the sale from leaving. That was more than 25 years ago, and it still remains a great place for treasure hunters.
