Gordonville, PA, USA-March 8, 2014: Amish and English shopping at the annual mud sale to benefit a fire company. The sale attracts thousands of people. Items include quilts, antiques and buggies.
What to know about Amish mud sales in Pennsylvania
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Scott LaMar
Gordonville, PA, USA-March 8, 2014: Amish and English shopping at the annual mud sale to benefit a fire company. The sale attracts thousands of people. Items include quilts, antiques and buggies.
Airdate: March 24, 2023
The mud sale season in Amish country is in full swing. Every weekend, Amish are holding sales that could be described as giant flea markets or auctions to raise money for community causes like volunteer fire companies.
But what is a mud sale?
On The Spark Friday, Steven Nolt (Ph.D.), a professor of history and Anabaptist studies at Elizabethtown College, and director and senior scholar at the college’s Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies said, “volunteer fire companies and other volunteer like EMT groups are really the backbone of, you know, first responders throughout Pennsylvania and in rural areas and including in our part of the state. And they’re needing to find ways to fund themselves. And so their, you know, variety of things that you may see, evening suppers, Saturday morning breakfasts, bingo nights, whatever. But back in 1965, the members of the Bart Township Fire Company in southern Lancaster County, and they were mostly Amish folks who had this idea — they decided to have a fundraising auction, a benefit auction, where people would either donate items or leave them for consignment with with the profits going to the fire company. And it’s just taken off from there. So mud sales. And I guess we get back to the why they’re called mud sales. But but these are things now today that they’ll draw thousands of people to a particular site and all sorts of things for sale, furniture, lumber, building supplies, quilts, antiques, shrubbery, housewares, lawnmowers. Some of the things are that are for sale are specifically for a very plain community buyer. Some of the, you know, buggies that are for sale horses, livestock, but lots of things that, you know, there are people who come from far and wide from other states who make an annual trek to this part of Pennsylvania to to buy things. Again, some things are donated, some are there on consignment, and they make thousands of dollars for the fire companies that host these sales each year.”
Mud sales can raise over $50,000.
Why are they called mud sales? “The original sales and still the bulk of them today were held from late February into April. So they’re in the springtime for the volunteers who worked to get ready for them and then to hold the sale, they may be working in frigid temperatures one day and then the next day it’s quite warm and things are freezing and thawing and they’re just really muddy.”
Mud sales for 2023:
Farmersville Mud Sale
March 24th
Farmersville Volunteer Fire Company
74 East Farmersville Road, Ephrata, PA 17522
717-354-5094
farmersvillefire.com
Gap Fire Company Mud Sale & Auction
March 25th
Gap Fire Company
802 Pequea Avenue, Gap, PA 17527
610-593-2480
gapfire.org
Robert Fulton Sale
April 1st
Robert Fulton Volunteer Fire Company
2271 Robert Fulton Highway (Routes 272 & 222), Peach Bottom, PA 17563
717-548-8995
513rffc.com
Rawlinsville Mud Sale
April 14th & 15th
Rawlinsville Volunteer Fire Company
33 Martic Heights Drive, Holtwood, PA 17532
717-284-3023
https://www.facebook.com/RVFC58/rvfd58.com
Schoeneck Fire Company Mud Sales
April 15th
Schoeneck Fire Company
125 N. King Street, Denver, PA 17517
717-336-6767
schoeneckfire.com
Fivepointville Auction
May 6th
Fivepointville Fire Company
1087 Dry Tavern Road, Denver, PA 17517
717-445-4933
fivepointvillefire.net
Honey Brook Quilt Sale & Consignment Auction
May 13th
Honey Brook Fire Company
Romano 4H Center, 1841 Horseshoe Pike, Honey Brook, PA 19344
610-273-2688
honeybrookfire.org
Weaverland Valley Mud Sale
May 19th & 20th
Weaverland Valley Fire Department
210 Lancaster Avenue, Terre Hill, PA 17528
717-445-7066
weaverlandvalleyfire.com
Kinzer Fire Company Mud Sale
June 10th
Kinzer Volunteer Fire Company
3521 Lincoln Highway East (Route 30), Kinzer, PA
717-442-4121
kinzerfire.com
Lancaster County Carriage & Antique Auction Bird-in-Hand
June 29th & 30th
Bird-in-Hand Volunteer Fire Company
313 Enterprise Drive, Bird in Hand, PA 17505
717-392-0112
birdinhandauction.com
Refton Fire Company Mud Sale
June 23rd & 24th
Refton Volunteer Fire Company
99 Church Street, Refton, PA 17568
717-786-9462
refton59fire.com
Bareville Fire Company Consignment Auction
August 26th
Bareville Volunteer Fire Company
211 East Main Street, Leola, PA 17540
717-656-7554
barevillefire.com
Gordonville Fall Mud Sale & Auction
September 16th
Gordonville Fire Company
Old Leacock Road, Gordonville, PA 17566
717-768-3869
43fireems.com
Cochranville Fire Company Mud Sale
October 21st
Cochranville Volunteer Fire Company
3135 Limestone Road Cochranville, PA
610-593-5800
cochranvillefire.com
