Cartersville, Georgia – Phones began ringing in December at visitor centers throughout Northwest Georgia with bargain-seekers planning a summer weekend getaway to the annual Dixie Highway 90-Mile Yard Sale. This year’s sale takes place June 4-6, 2010 along the historic Dixie Highway in Ringgold, Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face, Dalton, Resaca, Calhoun, Adairsville, Cassville, Cartersville, Emerson, Acworth, and Kennesaw. Thousands of individual yard sales will be held during this annual event hosted by Georgia’s Dixie Highway Association.
Some of the unique items sold in past years have included authentic chenille bedspreads, antique gum ball machines, and even a “Tiffany blue” professional salon hood hair dryer. 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.
MORE WAYS TO SAVE
Another unique and timely economic feature of the sale is the creation of Dixie Dollar Coupons which are printable from www.DixieHighway.org. These coupons are designed specifically for visitors attending the annual three-day event offering savings on lodging, dining and unique retail purchases along the way. Coupons will be posted throughout May, so be sure to print these just before leaving for your Dixie Highway Weekend. Tip: Many of the coupons remain valid beyond the Dixie dates for adding savings in the coming months.
In addition, the website will post a list of Registered Yard Sales in late May. This will help guide you to those special and unique items on your shopping list.
ABOUT THE YARD SALE – SOUVENIRS
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.
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. In addition, the GDHA coordinators have developed prototype of the official Dixie Highway street sign that is available for sale at the Visitor Information Center in downtown Cartersville. The signs can be personalized with the local Dixie community of your choice. “The most requested souvenir item from day one has been a souvenir version of the official Dixie Highway route sign,” said Wheeler. “We even had a couple on holiday from England seeking Dixie Highway tags for their motorcycle.”
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.
“Drivin’ the Dixie – A Nostalgic Guide to Georgia’s First Interstate Highway” is a visitors guide that features attractions old and new, plus a map and driving directions. For your free copy and yard sale details, call 770-387-1357. Visit online at www.dixiehighway.org.
DIXIE HIGHWAY YARD SALE QUICK FACTS
Event: Dixie Highway 90-Mile Yard Sale
When: Friday-Sunday, June 4-6, 2010 – always the first weekend in June.
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, 770-387-1357; www.dixiehighway.org. Ask for your free Dixie Highway Guide.
Vendors: To purchase a yard sale sign $5 each or find a space to rent call 770-387-1357.
MEDIA CONTACTS DURING SALE WEEKEND:
Ellen Archer, Cartersville 770-773-6706; Meaghan Dant, Ringgold 423-902-6603; Jane Pies, Kennesaw770-427-2117.