The Flea Market Scandal

September 3, 2006

We sell a variety of items at our camper flea markets to raise operating cash for our camping club. The most enduring item that we sell is our weiner sticks - still just a dollar after 40 years. We make the weiner sticks as a club, cutting the wire, drilling the handles, twisting the shafts and shaping the prongs to fit the hot dogs onto.

Our major seller for us is velcro straps that come with a medical supply kit at David's workplace and are just thrown away unused. They find new life in campers to coil water hoses or electric cords, strap awning arms together and many, many more uses. They require a lot of education for the first time user, but we get tons of repeat business!

We also find new homes for disposeable instruments and towels. Let me tell you, the waste in hospitals is criminal. They open up a procedure pack, use one thing and throw everything else away.

Anyway, enough background. This day we laid out all our stuff and were doing brisk business. The campout honcho, Bob, came by and told us he'd be collecting 10% for the state at the end of sales, per state by-laws. He told him, no that was just supposed to be for individual sales and didn't affect the chapter sales. He disagreed saying he had been there when it was voted on. We disagreed back as we had been vice presidents when it was voted on.

He fired back by saying loudly "You've been selling for yourselves for years and you know it!" Well that's news to our club treasury.

After a little fuming we decided it wasn't worth making a scene and mad a $10 donation to the scholarship fund and a $10 donation to the state fair membership booth fund. (We heard through the grapevine later that current president raked him over the coals a little)

We asked the president to go back the organization minutes to double check that we were remembering correctly and the the ammendment was found to read just as we recalled. Ha!

PS Just like anything else camping is not all sweetness and light...people's personalities sometimes rub you the wrong way. I make it a policy never to let that interfere with something I enjoy!

Story ID:	913
Written by:	Shannon Marie Hyle (bio, contact, other stories)
Story type:	Diary/Journal Entry
Location:	Tonganoxie Kansas USA
Year:	2006