Junk Hunt Organizers Looking To Simplify Map Before Fall

RISON - The Great South Arkansas Junk Hunt has wrapped up its spring run, and the organizers are looking to make some adjustments to the fall run, set for Sept. 24-27.Spearheaded by Jennifer Via with assistance from Douglas Boultinghouse, Donna Farrer and Vickie Padgett, the hunt has grown significantly over the years.While the hunt began as the Historic Hwy 35 Junk Hunt and its companion sale the Hwy 79-63 Junk Hunt Loop over a decade ago, it has expanded to cover most of south Arkansas.According to Via, the map of the merged route has been confusing for some, so she and her team of volunteers plan to revisit it ahead of the fall run.“We want to simplify it as much as possible,” she said. “But also not cut off any towns in the process.”She noted the complaints that some have made that the hunt has gotten too big for people to hit every sale.“It is impossible to hit every sale,” she said. “But that is also the point of a hunt. You’re not going to hit every deer when you go hunting either.”She said there are multiple other junk hunts out there much larger that cross state lines and span several days.“The point is to get out there and hunt and have fun in the process,” she said.And that is what many did.Via said the Great South Arkansas Hunt expanded organically into Louisiana this year. A group started in Bastrop, La., hitting sales as they made their way into Arkansas venturing sale to sale.Boultinghouse noted that while there did seem to be less sales this spring than in previous years, those that did set up mostly reported strong sales.“There seemed to be more shoppers than sellers this time,” he said.He and Via agreed that one contributing factor they did not forsee when setting the dates was that the hunt fell during spring break.Last year the organizers set the permanent schedule for the hunt as the first weekend in April for the spring...