As many as 200 vendors -- individuals, church groups, clubs and civic organization and businesses -- will line the streets of downtown Wesson in their special tents to offer arts and crafts items, fleas, clothing, food, snacks and refreshments, among other things, to thousands of browsers and shoppers expected to flood into town on Saturday, October 16, for the fiftieth annual Flea Market and Outdoor Arts and Crafts Show.
Wesson Volunteer Fire Department (WVFD) Chief Ken Carraway, who is coordinating the Flea Market for WVFD, the managing organization, predicts a big crowd will be browsing, shopping and munching on the concessions. The Flea Market will start at 8 a.m. on Highway 51, Factory and Spring Streets and run until 5 p.m.
Vendors from throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Tennessee will be on hand to help visitors with their shopping lists for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years with decorations, dolls, clothing and pets, wood and iron work, candlesticks, jellies and jams, bath products, jewelry and leather crafts, plants and flowers.
A special feature this year will be a raffle with a special handmade turkey call donated by Primos Hunting as the award.
Local artisans will offer a variety of hand-crafted items. Local civic clubs and church groups and other not-for-profit organizations will serve an array of foods and snacks, including pork skins -- a special Flea Market treat -- to raise money for their groups and their projects and causes.
The Wesson Lions Club will again be selling sweet potatoes. Friends of the Library will hold its annual book sale in the building next to the Wesson public library pavilion. The Doll's House and Wesson Baptist, Smyrna Baptist and Mount Moriah Baptist Churches will be on hand. Town Hall staff will be in a special tent, where residents can get to know government officials.
Started by a local merchants association, WVFD turned the event, better known today as the "Wesson Flea Market," into a major fundraiser held annually on the third Saturday in October. The volunteer fire fighters generate some $5000 each year on sales of the 10-foot-by-10-foot display areas at $45 each to purchase equipment for the fire department, Carraway says.
Vendors and exhibitors can still reserve display areas.They must furnish their own tables, chairs, and other display equipment and may sell from tents, booths or their cars and trucks. Set-up for the Flea Market is after 5 p.m. on Friday, October 15, and before 8 a.m. on Saturday. Get information at 601-265-1694 or wessonfd@gmail.com.
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