“We knew we were taking a shot in the dark, but it really worked,” Frank Gaglio said about the change in days for his Antiques in A Cow Pasture. When Russell Carrell started this first flea market many years ago in the pasture adjoining his home, it was always on one of the first two Saturdays in September. When the show was revived six years ago by Barn Star Productions, Saturday was show day. This year the show was changed to Sunday.

“Things change, and this time it was for the better,” Frank said a couple of days after his flea market closed on September 10. The move was made to avoid conflicts with other area events, especially the popular house tour conducted in Salisbury and surrounding towns. “We did not have one negative comment from any visitor, only positive,” he said. “People loved it as it gave them something to do on Sunday, making for a complete weekend of events.”

The weather could not have been better and a small group of less than a dozen early buyers at 8:15 swelled by 10 am to the largest early buying crowd in the last six years. “People came as late as 10:45 for early buying and then we had a steady flow of visitors right up until closing,” Frank said.

Sixty-eight dealers signed up for the market, only one did not show, and they offered a wide variety of furniture and accessories, from some formal to mostly country.

Rugs, quilts, garden ornaments and folk art were displayed on tables, in the backs of vans and on the ground, allowing for easy viewing as customers roamed up and down the aisles. The rains of several days earlier made for some soggy parking areas, but the field was nice and dry.

“We tried something new this year and will offer it again next September,” Frank Gaglio said. He engaged a tent company to come to the pasture the day before and set up tents for some of the dealers. “We picked the spot, had the tent all in place, and the exhibitor only had to move in,” he said. The extra cost was minimal, the tent was sturdy, and the chore of putting one up and then unpacking was made easy. “We have had more dealers ask about it and will probably have twice as many next year,” Frank said.

About eight people did not know that the day of the show had been changed and were there on Saturday. “We gave them all comp passes for Sunday, and all came back,” Frank said. “Sunday was an all-around winner.”