LUCASVILLE- The Scioto County Fair may be at a close, but Lucasville Trade Days is just around the corner, with its third event of the year coming this fall, welcoming thousands to the fairgrounds for fair food, sales, and unique experiences.

Organizing the event is Jim Wirth, who is optimistic about its growth. Wirth has an interesting history with markets of this type, going back over 60 years.

“Many, many, many years ago, when I was a young kid, my dad was a car collector and really enjoyed antique cars. He and I would be on a fishing trip, or whatever dads and sons do, and he would find a gas station along the way that may have an old attic with stuff in it and dad would buy a bunch of things,” Wirth said. “We’d take it home and, once a year, he would take the car parts to swap meets, where a lot of guys would take car parts and swap parts. It would be like, ‘Well, I need this. How about I trade you this for that?’ Later on, it got to be more about things being sold and I just thought that was the coolest thing. We were a single income family, not in poverty or anything, but a single income family, nonetheless. We didn’t have a lot of things other families did, but we would go to a flea market and that was special.”

Wirth explained that he would help his father at flea markets and make his own money selling gaskets and other car parts. While he was still a kid, he could easily navigate gaskets and common car parts and earn his own money by helping his father.

“I would earn a whole pocket-full of one-dollar bills and I just thought that was the greatest thing ever, you know?” Wirth remembered.

Wirth said that he and his wife ended up continuing that legacy, navigating yard sales, flea markets, and odd shops. They quickly learned what sold and what certain things were worth and became successful in vending at trade days events.

“We became fluent and learned what was special, or collectible, or maybe worth something. After a while, you realize you’re accumulating a lot of stuff,” Wirth said. “So, we started going to events and I just loved it. Spreading stuff out, putting prices on them, negotiating and haggling with people; I just absolutely loved it.”

Wirth said he was a member of an antique car club with his father and he and his wife took over a swap event for the club, which sparked an even greater joy for him.

“It was fun work and I seemed to figure out how to do it. My wife is also pretty smart and the things I’m not good at are right up her alley and she makes me looks smarter than I am,” Wirth said. “So, we decided to launch our own car swap on the side.”

Being in advertising, Wirth built a network of connections with magazines and publications dealing in cars. He used his connections to start his own event with Car and Parts Magazine.

“They said, ‘This is awesome, we want part of it.’ They had the funding and name we needed, and it took right off. We ran that for 10 or 15 years.”

During this time, he also became a vendor at the swap days event that was previously held at the fairgrounds. He fell in love with the site and people and activities until it closed. He couldn’t stand to see it go, so he took it over in 2014 and has been running Lucasville Trade Days ever since.

“When it packed up and I got notice they were leaving the fairgrounds, I thought, ‘Man, this is a beautiful area and I hate to see it go.’ So, I contacted the fair board and talked with them about it. The next thing I knew, they were telling me to do it. I thought ‘wow’ and that’s what we did.”

Wirth said the first year was slow, but it has grown massively every year since.

At 69, Wirth says he has slowed down his advertising business, and he treats the Trade Days events as his retirement hobby and job. He loves the work and says he is never bored.

“One show, we had a baby kangaroo here. It wasn’t for sale, but people were getting pictures with it. It was some guy’s personal pet. We had a Ki Adi Mundi, baby skunks, and more. You just see the strangest things out here,” Wirth claimed. “One guy was selling a miracle machine from the early 1990’s with glass tubes and wires and all this different stuff. I kept reading, trying to figure out what it was. It was in a box of stuff I bought from this guy. It turns out to be a woman’s personal device, if you will. I would have liked to die when I learned about that one. You never know what you’ll see.”

The growth of the event has been visible by Lucasville traffic patterns during the event.

“It’s wonderful. We’re happy. Most of the folks here are just salt of the Earth, nicest people,” Wirth said. “And the people who visit are great, too. I think the whole world loves the dream and concept of treasure hunting. Finding something interesting or different or a bargain. People are entertained by seeing things that remind them of their childhood and yesterday and all of that is found here in Lucasville and a whole lot more. You just can’t imagine the things you find laid out on these tables sometimes. People are often mind-boggled and that is the coolest thing of all; you get to look at all of this amazing merchandise and the best part is that you can own it. It is all for sale.”

Wirth says that he is proud of what he has accomplished through Lucasville Trade Days and that he believes it is a place he would have loved visiting as a kid with his father.

“My dad was a hardworking sheet metal worker who provided a darn good living for our family but did not have a lot of disposable income and he would never have dreamed of putting something like this on at all, because he was a quiet person who wanted to put his name in the yoke and pull the wagon for someone else. He would have loved these events,” Wirth said. “He was smart. He would have loved walking through these events and pointing out, to a young boy like me, what special things are laid out and what they were used for. I believe he would truly love these events. If he, then, found out they were pulled together by me and my wife, even through financial difficult times like the pandemic, I think he would be very, very pleased.”

The next Lucasville Trade Days will be held on September 22, 23, and 24. There is a $7 entry fee for guests. They open at 3 p.m. on Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. They close at 7, but don’t push anyone out the gate.

“It has been a very good year after two very difficult years. We are pleased,” Wirth said. “The September show is, in some ways, my favorite. It is time for harvest, so there will be a lot of fresh produce and recently hatched foul—chickens and ducks and other poultry. There will be a lot of people selling trees and plants and things of that nature. I like that. Maybe the best thing is that the crowd is not so completely intense. We still fill the fairgrounds, but, in spring, we can barely accommodate enough parking and have hundreds driving around and waiting for a parking space. It is all hands on deck—don’t eat, don’t take bathroom breaks, but work and get people taken care of. It is still a huge event, but it is more relaxed and easier.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.Reach