Antique shows hope to fill void left by longtime Hanson’s Grove show

Three area antique shows hope to pick up where Solon's former Hanson's Grove antique show left off last year when it closed for good after 34 years.

'Everybody went to Hanson's Grove, it was the place to go on the Fourth of July,” said Cindy Burkhalter, who runs the Firecracker 4th Antiques Show in Amana.

The Amana show is in its ninth year and will be expanding this year to add more dealers coming from Hanson's.

'We have a large selection of dealers from outside the area which is really fun because they bring different things for people to see,” Burkhalter said.

She said the show will have dealers from a variety of states, catering to what she expects to be about 3,000 to 5,000 shoppers on July 3 and 4.

'We've had good crowds before and being that it's a weekend, we expect to have a good group,” Burkhalter said.

Two other antique showcases also are expecting more customers and vendors.

The Mount Vernon July Fourth Antiquing Extravaganza is an open-air market in its seventh year.

Alice Schumacher, a co-chair of the event, said there are more than 50 dealers and are expecting to get more closer to the event. She also said organizers expect a large influx of people, and are hoping to see about 8,000 to 10,000 shoppers.

Schumacher said while having the event on a holiday weekend can be both good and bad for attracting customers, 'it's tradition to have it on the Fourth of July.”

Bill Ackerman, who is running the first ever July Fourth Stars and Stripes Antique Market in Iowa City, said he thinks early July is the best time to host a show.

'The Fourth of July is the number one antiquing day of the year in this area,” he said. 'People are out and about and are in a festive mood.”

The Iowa City show has about 85 dealers and will take place in three buildings as well as in an outdoor space.

Ackerman said he and his wife decided to open the market after the closing of Hanson's, a show they had both worked with in the past. They are hoping to bring similar antiquing opportunities to Eastern Iowa.

'I would expect to see a lot of the same kinds of things that the Hanson show provided,” he said. 'I expect it to be very diverse in selection (and) to be similar to Hanson's.”