Media release: The annual Dixie Highway 90-Mile Yard Sale has grown steadily since it began in 2006. Recent tornado destruction combined with the number of participants each year has brought out some changes to this year's sale which takes place June 3-5, 2011. The Georgia Dixie Highway Association (GDHA) has now made it possible for all participating residents, businesses, churches and civic organizations along the historic Dixie Highway to register their sale for free online at www.DixieHighway.org. Upon approval, the sales will then be listed on the website for all visitors to see.
The Dixie Highway route through Ringgold, Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face, Dalton, Resaca, Calhoun, Adairsville, Cassville, Cartersville, Emerson, Acworth, and Kennesaw was impacted by tornados in April. With many of the association members working to support recovery and relief efforts, the association chose to simplify the yard sale registration process and to waive the registration fee. GDHA member and Cartersville-Bartow County Convention & Visitors Bureau Deputy Director Regina Wheeler said "The hardest hit area was Ringgold; however, the city has reopened to through traffic and lost only one notable Dixie Highway landmark, The Chow Time Drive-In hamburger stand on Nashville Street."
In past years more than one thousand individual yard sales were held during this annual event. Enterprising residents baked cakes, smoked barbecue and erected old-fashioned lemonade stands just as they did when the Dixie Highway route first opened in the 1920's. "Visitors are encouraged to come out and support our residents and businesses because commerce is greatly needed for recovery," said Wheeler. Past sales have featured antique carousel horses, authentic chenille bedspreads, and even a retro "Tiffany blue" salon hair dryer.
Yard sale hours vary but most sales are open daily from 7 a.m. to dusk. "Friday is always the best day to get the first pick of items sold. There is more to choose from on Saturday, as some residents sell on this day only. And, Sunday is usually a day for bargains because all that is not sold has to be packed," Wheeler conveyed about the results of previous years.
See www.DixieHighway.org to register online, view registered sales, and for a free route map. Those wishing to rent a yard sale space, and those who wish to rent spaces to yard sale vendors should call 770-387-1357.
YARD SALE HISTORY
The yard sale celebrates the revitalization of the Dixie Highway and attracts visitors to simpler times, giving communities along the route an opportunity to promote their individuality and hidden gems. In its inaugural year in 2006, the sale was a huge success and very well attended. In 2007, the GDHA and Arcadia Publishing produced a souvenir book, North Georgia's Dixie Highway by Amy Gillis Lowry and Abbie Tucker Parks, which may be purchased at Visitor Information Centers and select stores on the Dixie Highway. The book features approximately 217 early photographs and memories of the Dixie Highway, arranged in five chapters dedicated to each of the participating northwest Georgia counties: Catoosa, Whitfield, Gordon, Bartow and Cobb. The book sells for $19.99 plus tax. Due to the sale's instant popularity, coordinators officially added Friday as an official sale day, making this an annual three-day event in 2008.
About the Dixie Highway
When Carl Fisher, an enterprising northerner conceived the idea of the nation's first interstate in 1912, he had the success of several personal business ventures in mind ranging from Michigan to Florida. But it was the enterprising nature of the south that proved the Dixie Highway route would be a lasting success for all. Even today in the shadows of its descendent, Interstate 75, the Dixie Highway is still in business thanks to Georgia's Dixie Highway Association.
Visit online at www.dixiehighway.org for more details.
DIXIE HIGHWAY YARD SALE QUICK FACTS
Event: Dixie Highway 90-Mile Yard Sale
When: Friday-Sunday, June 3-5, 2011 – always the first weekend in June, 7 am-dusk
Where: Along the nostalgic Dixie Highway, the "granddaddy of I-75", which stretches 90 miles in northwest Georgia from Kennesaw to Ringgold.
Sponsor: The Georgia Dixie Highway Association
Vendors: Register free online at www.DixieHighway.org, and find info on where to purchase "Official Yard Sale Sign" (optional)
Spaces: To find a yard sale space to rent, or to make your yard sale rental spaces available call 770-387-1357.
Traffic Info: Georgia Navigator – Call 511 or toll free 1-877-MY-GA-511
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