Mud sale season kicks off at Strasburg Fire Company | Local News

There are few things more uniquely Lancaster County than a mud sale. The distinctive mix of homemade goods, hearty Pennsylvania Dutch food and community fundraising has brought together locals and visitors for decades.

For over 50 years, mud sale season has started at the Strasburg Fire Company. 

On Saturday, thousands of people flooded into and around the fire house at 203 W. Franklin St. to bid on everything from handmade quilts to vintage toys to shrubbery. 

Kim Kush, of Gap, said the excitement of finding unexpected and unusual items at the auctions brings her back to mud sales time and again. 

“Usually we bring a trailer to haul any furniture, but I kept it under control today,” Kush said.

By the end of the morning, Kush had won a handful of auctions, taking home an antique sewing box, and vintage ornaments to match her aluminum Christmas tree. 

“Sometimes you just have to get something different,” Kush said. “I love to surprise my husband with whatever I bring home.” 

Each year, Stacey Sterr and her family travel from New Jersey for the Strasburg mud sale. By the end of the morning Sterr was taking home a cartful of antiques. 

“It’s the atmosphere,” Sterr said, when asked what brings her back each year. “It’s exciting not knowing what you’re going to find.”

Gary Appel, of Holtwood, also goes to the mud sale every year, not for the auctions but for the food. 

“By far, Strasburg has the best chicken corn soup in the county,” Appel said. “I make sure I get there early.” 

As the event entered its 51st year, Deputy Fire Chief Scott Weichler said the mud sale owed its longevity and success to the partnership between the fire department and its Amish neighbors. 

“We could not do this without the support of the Amish community,” Weichler said. “Without the mud sale we would be in trouble.

The mud sale provides about a third of the fire department’s annual operating budget. The event has been canceled only once, in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Over the years, as demand has grown, the event has expanded to two days, with some quilts and crafts being auctioned off Friday evening. 

With an estimated 5,000 people in attendance Saturday morning, and over 350 gallons of chicken corn soup prepared to meet demand, Weichler said he believed this year would be another successful chapter in its long history.

Among the people who make the annual sale possible are the auctioneers, like Paul Stoltzfus, of Gap. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stoltzfus and other mud sale auctioneers keep up a steady, rapid-fire chant of numbers and filler words that give the auctions their energy.

Stoltzfus started learning the trade around three years ago after watching a friend ply his skills in an auctioneering competition. 

“I was not very good at first,” Stoltzfus said. “It took some time and experience to figure it out, especially keeping track of bids as they come in.” 

Part of an auctioneer’s job is commanding the crowd’s attention, Stoltzfus said. The more energy an auctioneer can provide, the more likely someone is to take a chance on a bid. 

While auctioneers rotate every 30 minutes, the energy and pace they have to keep up can take a lot out of a person. 

“You can be pretty wiped out by the end of the day,” Stoltzfus said. “Honestly, if you aren’t used to it, sometimes you can barely talk.” 

The key to not losing your voice: plenty of room-temperature water throughout the day, Stoltzfus said. 

Strasburg is just the first of 17 mud sales scheduled to take place throughout the county from now through October. Bart Township Fire Company will hold the next mud sale of the year this Friday and Saturday.