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Flea Market 101

Nothing is certain in life besides death and the need for volunteers and participation in the Woodruff Place Flea Market every year.

This year, like every year, the Flea Market committee members are ready to knock the logistics and execution out of the esplanades. In the spirit of attracting much needed assistance and neighborhood buy-in, I have outlined the most important information for volunteers and neighbors to get involved and enjoy this year’s event to the fullest.

Sell your stuff!

Whether you have rapidly growing children and need to off-load the clothes that fit them mere weeks ago, or you spend time shopping on Amazon and have realized how perfect for the Flea Market your new stuff is – we need you to participate and contribute to the total funds raised! The standard is 10% of your sales but the committee would gladly take more.

Our goal is to have a full showing of our collective stuff on the majority of the lawns throughout the neighborhood. This is what keeps the 10,000 plus people coming back for more stuff every year – the impressive show and endless browsing opportunities.

If you have any concern that your newly landscaped lawn will be jeopardized you can set up on your curb, per Tessie Lloyd – Jones. “ If people want to protect their blades of grass they can still do so while contributing to the total sales and ultimate donations.” The neighborhood asks for 10% of all sales plus any outside vendor fees at $100/lawn. Please be sure to go through the committee directly if you are interested in lending your lawn to someone with more stuff than you.

Alternately, if you’re not willing to loan out your lawn but have friends and family members with an excess of belongings, invite them to collaborate. They get to off-load their extra furniture and Justin Bieber paraphernalia in exchange for dollars or the cryptocurrency of their choice – all while the total funds raised climbs higher.

Volunteer!

We need volunteers! The committee members are hard at work and need extra support including the following:

Set Up

Set up trash bins and bags, tables, and assist the committee with a successful setup and teardown from start to finish. If you are busy preparing for your own sale during the official setup time on Friday evening you can arrange to participate in a pre-event cleanup along 10th street. Let’s make sure the parameter of our domain is representative of our standard for charm and tidiness. More info will be posted on the Woodruff Facebook page. 

Clean Up

Join the Trash Troopers! On Saturday and Sunday during the official Flea Market, the Trash Trooper Truck will collect trash in the cardboard containers that have been placed throughout the neighborhood. That being said, each yard is still responsible for trash – the Trash Troopers will focus on the public areas.

Getting the neighborhood back to the pre-Flea Market standard takes nothing short of elbow grease and a few miracles. The only way to erase the evidence of 10,000 people spending two days eating, drinking and rummaging through around our lawns is to act immediately and contained the trash.

The committee has arranged for St. Vincent De Paul to pick up unwanted items on Sunday beginning at 5:00 p.m. A big thanks to Darlene Sweeny (Middle Drive) for arranging this pick up that benefits Woodruff and the SVDP Mission 37 retail shop. Unwanted items should be placed on the curb in front of your house. Please do not leave empty cardboard boxes on the curb, as this pick up is strictly reserved for the inventory castoffs.

Participate!

Regardless of the role you choose to play during this iconic weekend, there are some incredible things not to miss:

  1. You get to snoop through and buy your neighbor’s stuff to possibly sell at next year’s Flea Market
  2. Cross Drive will be blooming with local food trucks and vendors – when else is your front porch within walking distance of street food and a Kombucha stand?
  3. Everybody dance! I bet you didn’t know that at 3:00pm there is a mandated, neighborhood-wide dance party. I heard that West Drive usually does a great job enlisting participation and general hype. Middle and East Drives – consider yourselves challenged. Sounds like a great opportunity for us to prove to ourselves and our guests that we know how to (dance) party. If you want the details you can contact Tessie at [email protected]
  4. Follow the few rules that have been determined for the greater good and sustainability of the annual fundraiser.
  • The board of health prohibits the sale of homemade food items. We can also make sure the vendors get all the action for the weekend. Bottled and canned soft drinks and waters are ok – hydration is a must!
  • Entrust the committee to manage the third party vendors you have granted access to your lawn – no bootlegged lawns, please.
  • Please donate at least 10% of your sales to the cause!
  • Attention new residents: parking will be limited on East, Middle, and Cross drives as 10,000 meander in and out of the neighborhood for two days. If you live on Cross Drive you will have to get creative about getting to your house starting on Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.

In summary, if you want to take part in one of the most fun and impactful fundraisers hosted by our community, sell your stuff and volunteer! See you at the Flea Market!

 

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Flea Market History

To the average Woodruffian, the annual Flea Market is a weekend in June to celebrate the neighborhood. Like many new neighbors, my first encounter came as a complete shock: There are thousands of people! No, seriously. Thousands. Even if the weather isn’t accommodating, central Indiana shows up for this magical weekend in June. Over the years my household has developed a year-long preparation plan:

  1. Put stuff in the garage and basement marked ‘flea mkt’ all year long.
  2. Forget about all of the stuff to sell until the week before.
  3. Panic ensues.
  4. Scramble on Flea Market Eve getting stuff ready to sell.
  5. Saturday morning comes and you give up, have a drink with friends and people watch.

When talking with long-term residents about their process, I get the sense that we all experience this at one point or another.

No one really knows when the Flea Market started. I’ve put a date on the official website of 1975, but even that date may not be accurate. I have it on record from one of the original planners that instead, 1976 was the most likely inaugural event. You see, back then the neighborhood was a completely different place. The Flea Market was THE primary fundraiser for a neighborhood completely dedicated to the bootstraps type quality of life improvement and neighborhood preservation. Their goal was to coordinate a neighborhood activity with the country’s bicentennial festivities and use it to fundraise. That first year, residents donated 100% of the proceeds from their individual sales to the neighborhood – netting around $1,000.

As new neighbors came into the fold, they too were just as skeptical about this tall tale of ‘thousands’ of people shopping at the flea market. In the mid-80’s, Tom Abeel, a first time participant, doubted Kimbal and Tessie Lloyd-Jones’s attendance estimates – until they witnessed the 1987 event, “we half-heartedly put a few things in the yard, and holy smokes: Everything sold on Saturday!”

Rosanna Hardin-Hall grew up in Woodruff in the 1940s and 50s, and returned as a full-time resident in 1995. She says her first few flea market years were dedicated to selling off the previous two generations of her family’s belongings from 700 Middle Drive to clear a spot to make a home for herself. Over 20 years into her second-term of residency, she looks forward to sharing her artistic talents by performing charcoal drawings for passers-by.

Now in its 40-something the year of operation, several neighbors prefer to donate their yard to the Flea Market committee, who places an approved vendor in the space for a fee. Some Woodruffians are convinced that this is the best way to enjoy the event – letting someone else do the work while getting to enjoy the best food, drinks and friends on porches throughout the weekend. While you’re finishing off some buffalo nachos, ice cream, elephant ear, draft beer and meat on a stick, be sure to take a minute to appreciate the hard work of the small army of volunteers operating in the background to pull this event off.

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Summer in Woodruff

It is nearly impossible to think about the warmer seasons in Woodruff Place without evoking images of sparkling fountains and lush greenery.

Debbie Pidgeon recently shared some relevant information that came as a surprise to me. It turns out I have unintentionally committed offences against our fountains numerous times. Despite my embarrassment I thought I would share a few “fun facts” about two of the most treasured characteristics of Summer in Woodruff Place.

FOUNTAINS
“A team of neighbors keep the fountains operational and put a lot of effort into making them beautiful for all to see. The fountains are not treated or protected areas for swimming or playing, and it’s against the law to get into the fountains. Unfortunately, broken glass has been found in fountains before.”

Whether you have been tempted to wade into the fountains or encouraged a little one to do so, you can now rest assured that such activity is, in fact, illegal and potentially dangerous. All the more reason to make friends with certain neighbors who have pools.

TREES
While we are all aware that the beautiful state of our neighborhood is no accident, I thought it would be interesting to share these facts about our trees and the expensive and laborious efforts made to ensure the lushness lives on.

Planting
According to Debbie Pidgeon, 146 trees were planted in Woodruff Place between 2007-2010 in collaboration with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.

2007: 40 on Cross Drive
2008: 31 on Middle Drive
2009: 21 on East Drive and 27 on West Drive
2010: 27 on East Drive alley/Tecumseh St.

Ash tree treatment
“In 2013 the Historic Woodruff Place Foundation and the Civic League Board launched a years-long effort to protect the neighborhood’s large Ash Trees from the Emerald Ash Borer – an aggressive invasive insect that has decimated Ash Tree populations throughout the eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada. To date 52 trees in the common areas of Woodruff Place have been saved but their survival depends from a continued commitment to retreat them every two years for the next 8 to 10 years. The cost of the most recent treatment cycle (2017) was nearly $8,500.”

There you have it – a few more  examples of the intention behind the timeless Woodruff Aesthetic we all love. For more information about how you can contribute to the endless beautification efforts take a look at Woodruffplace.org.

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