Berlin Merchants set for garage sales, barnstormers
Maps for the Berlin Garage Sales, set for April 25-27, are available at the North Market Variety Store or by going to www.visitberlinohio.com/events.
Holmes County will be a treasure hunter’s delight next weekend as two of the biggest events for scavengers return for another renewal. The Berlin Garage Sales will span most of the weekend while the Berlin Barnstormers event will cap things with its 20th annual quest for prizes.
The Berlin-Millersburg area will be a hive of activity for those in pursuit of bargains or just wanting to search for secondhand trinkets, clothing and other various wares.
The Berlin Garage Sales will be April 25-27. Some will begin as early as April 24, though they are not promoted on that day as part of the overall event. Others may not run on April 27, with some shutting down after two days.
The Berlin Garage Sales will include more than 35 locations in town with dozens more out of town, totaling nearly 100 spots in all. For maps and a location list, as well as days each place will participate, check out www.visitberlinohio.com/garage-sales. Maps also are available at the North Market Variety in Berlin.
“The people who come to the garage sales, they have their favorite places to go, and they all know it’s coming at the end of April,” Janet Flickinger of Berlin Main Street Merchants said. “It’s just gotten so big.”
In conjunction with the garage sales, Byler’s Barbecue will have its food truck on hand at North Market Variety on April 25 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and April 26 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Billed as a fast-paced, fun-filled day, Berlin Barnstorming will take place Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Barnstorming is more of a scavenger hunt than a sale, but it will feature more than two dozen merchants. Each participating merchant will hide a small wooden barn on their premises.
Barnstormers will receive a raffle ticket for a gift certificate upon finding the model barn in a shop. Barns may move within various locations to make the task of finding them more difficult.
The Barnstorming is geared toward getting people inside the merchants’ stores. Even if they don’t buy anything, the shops will be seen by scores of prospective customers.
“Some of the people who have participated in the past are a little disappointed because they don’t shop much, but it gets them in the store for a return,” Flickinger said. “If there’s something going on in Berlin, they want to know about it, and they want to be here.”
The raffle will be held from 4-5 p.m. at the German Village Center. Prizes will include gift cards and gift baskets. Past raffles have included a grand prize. Last year’s top prize approached $1,000 in value.
“It started out being a couple gift baskets,” Flickinger said. “The merchants are very generous. Now every merchant gives a $25 gift certificate, and there is a large gift basket that’s the grand prize.”
Also drawn for are odds and ends too big to fit into gift baskets.
Also part of the weekend sale festivities will be the North Market Variety Store Anniversary Sale April 26-27.