by Mike Jaquays
The fifth annual Madison-Bouckville June Show will be a true “buyers market” of antiques and collectibles when it returns to the famed Route 20 corridor this year, with some 200 local and nationwide dealers selling their latest and greatest wares to buyers from across the state and beyond.
The June Show runs from June 3-5, hosted by a variety of shops and showfields on and around Route 20 from Bouckville to Madison. The show will feature vintage furniture and home furnishings; old-time tools, engines, and sporting goods; records, musical instruments, and sound equipment; trains, toys, and dolls; and other rarities likely not available anywhere else. There are also a variety of food vendors up and down the road to help shoppers revitalize in their quest for the perfect purchase.
“It’s really building up now — it seems that each June it gets a little bigger,” said Indian Opening Acres showfield co-owner Sally Tanners, who joins the June Show this year. Tanners said they will have a variety of dealers — and dealer space is still available — on their field, while shoppers will be able to find safe and convenient parking there as well.
The event this year also sees the dramatic debut of the all-new yet all-vintage Bouckville Summits 19th century barehanded base ball team that same weekend, as they play a double-header right there on June 4 in Bouckville — and not far from where the original Summits team of days gone by played their own games.
The “gentleman’s game” of the mid-1800s is authentic right down to the uniforms, specially-made balls, and the vocabulary, explained organizer Michael “Licks” Velapoldi. The rules will be the same as the mid-1800s teams as well, so players will catch and throw barehanded. Pitchers, or “hurlers” as they were called circa the 1860s, will throw underhand, and the bats also are a bit longer and a bit heavier than the bats of today.
“This area has a rich history and I think people will be interested to see how baseball was played back then,” Velapoldi said.
The Bouckville Summits will meet the Long Island-based New York Mutuals June 4 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for a double-header in the ball field at 4650 Route 20 in Bouckville. Velapoldi also welcomes fans who want to get in on the fun to come dressed in black, Dockers-style pants and black cleats or shoes to join the game.
. The June Show will also feature the 10th anniversary GasStuff.com Petroliana Fest and Swap Meet, hosted by John Mancino, owner of the Gallery Antiques at Pinebrick and the Out Front Showfield. The Petroliana Fest features all kinds of gas station memorabilia including signage, gas cans, pumps, and globes, with much of the inventory coming from now-defunct gas stations.
Among the ever-popular food sellers, Dianne Merrigan of the brand-new Lady Di’s Soups and Pies, A Country Café in Bouckville is excited to meet guests as they visit the antique haven.
“We’re looking forward to introducing people to our food,” Merrigan promised. “Everything is homemade and we’ll even have a ‘grab and go’ case as well for people on the move.”
Although they are traditionally open Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lady Di’s will be expanding their hours both earlier and later for the June Show to accommodate hungry shoppers.
The June Show runs June 3-5 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and admission is free.