Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt Begins Next Week in County

RISON - The fall run of the Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt is set for next week, following the expanded route established this past spring.The four-day hunt runs Thursday, Oct. 10 through Sunday, Oct. 13 across the southern portion of the state featuring more than 600 miles of yard sales."We're expecting great weather this run" said organizer and founder Jennifer Via. "Which is a nice contrast to the rainy spring run." The Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt is the merged route of the former Historic Hwy. 35 Junk Hunt and the Hwy. 79-63 Junk Hunt Loop, both of which Cleveland County served as the epicenter.Via said the merger creates one large route of sales to be held twice a year, and now spread over four days instead of three."Just like we saw in the spring, there has been a tremendous amount of activity on Facebook," Via said. "We expect a lot of people are driving in from out of state to participate." In addition to the Junk Hunt, the Rison in the Fall Festival set for the same weekend on Saturday, Oct. 12 is bringing more people to this region.Co-organizer Douglas Boultinghouse, who also serves as the director of the fall festival, said having the two events on the same weekend was not intentional."Somehow the dates crossed and we're making the most of it, but hope people out traveling the Junk Hunt will stick around Rison that Saturday afternoon to enjoy all the festivities, vendors, food trucks and free entertainment,” he said.Performers for the festival include acclaimed actor and singer Charles Esten (known for his roles on “Nashville,” “Outer Banks,” “The Office” and more), GRAMMY-nominee Rissi Palmer, The Voice alums BIAS and Marybeth Byrd, and newcomer Matt Wilkerson.Along the Junk Hunt route in various towns, vendor hubs will be set up hosting multiple sales at one stop including multiple in Cleveland County.According to Sharon Gray with the Pioneer Village at Rison, which has b...