Dig out your boots and get ready to hunt for bargains when the Penryn Fire Company's mud sale returns after a two-year absence. The sale will be held at the station, 1441 N. Penryn Road, Manheim, on Friday and Saturday, March 18 and 19. Friday's activities will begin at noon with chicken barbecue dinners for sale by either drive-through or dine-in, followed by auctions beginning at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the auctions will resume at 8:30 a.m. until sold out, and a variety of food options will be available on-site.
"Things are a little bit scaled back this year, because in the two years since we've had a sale, we've lost a lot of key help," said Tom Walsh, chair of the mud sale committee. "It takes a lot of people to pull off an event like this."
The fire station has been holding a mud sale since 2006 and had to cancel its 2020 sale just a week and a half before the event. "2020 would have been our 15th year doing this, and we really wanted to bring it back even if it's on a smaller scale," Walsh noted.
Friday evening will feature two auctions, one for grocery items and one for tools. On Saturday, there will be four auctions happening at any one time, featuring crafts, quilts, trees and shrubs, antiques and collectibles, produce and tools. Everything will be sold under tents this year, Walsh said, noting that in the past the event included items for sale in the field around the station. Auction items come from consignors who have sold at the event before, he explained.
Food for sale will include a little bit of everything, Walsh said. "It's good Amish-made food - subs, burgers, baked goods," he stated. "You can eat here or take it to go."
Proceeds from the mud sale benefit both the fire station and the Limerock Parochial School, a local network of Amish schools. Planning for the first mud sale began in 2005. "One of the local members of the Amish community approached us about doing a benefit sale," Walsh said of the mud sale's origins. "We happened to be talking about having some sort of fundraising event at the fire station at the same time, so it all worked out to do this together."
He noted that cash, checks and credit cards are accepted at the mud sale, and he encouraged everyone to come to the event.
"You never know what you might find at an auction," he stated. "You'll see all kinds of deals and bargains. And, if you can't find a bargain you like, there's always a lot of good, delicious Amish-made food. There is really something here to please everyone."
Parking will be available on-site on Friday. On Saturday, no parking will be available at the fire station, but parking will be offered at several local churches, with a shuttle bus to the sale. For more information on parking and on the mud sale, visit http://www.penrynfire.com or search for "Penryn Fire Company, No. 1 & Limerock Parochial School Mud Sale" on Facebook.
Leave a Review