RISON - The Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt found great success this past weekend despite a rainy start, according to organizer Jennifer Via.This hunt marked the first run since the merger of the Historic Highway 35 Junk Hunt and the Highway 79-63 Junk Hunt Loop under the new name and expanded route."Unfortunately for the first time in nine years, it rained on the first two days of the hunt," said Via. "This delayed a lot of people from setting up until Saturday." Via said this made some peo-ple assume the hunt had either been canceled or that the expansion was too big that people were not setting up for the hunt."We had a huge Saturday all around," she said. "Once the rain cleared, people were out hunting and selling." Despite the rain, many indoor hubs, including the Pioneer Village at Rison, Old Country Store in New Edinburg, and the VA Arena in Sheridan had steady traffic the first two days.Vickie Padgett, who is one of four people Via relies on to manage the hunt, saw great success with her garage sale in Rison, even during the rain."We had a fantastic sale," she said "Harvy and I enjoyed visiting with the junkers." Padgett said her husband even popped popcorn for junkers.Douglas Boultinghouse, who manages the social media aspects of the hunt, also set up in the Woodlawn area with members of his family also having sales."We didn't get to set up until Saturday due to the rain, but it was by far the busiest and most effective hunt we've had over the years when it comes to clearing out junk," he said.Boultinghouse noted the addition of a fourth day to the hunt really helped."Jennifer, Vickie, Donna Farrer and I are glad we listened to the requests of those wanting Sundays added on," he said. "There was a great number of people who got out Sunday afternoon to shop." Boultinghouse said he got to visit with a couple from Iowa who planned their vacation to Arkansas around the Junk Hunt."It just go...
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