Altamont joins National Road festival for first time

May 30—The Historic National Road Yard Sale Festival is coming to Altamont for the first time in its 20-year history. The city is located along the Historic National Road, now known as U.S. Route 40.

To kick off the festival, the city will host citywide garage sales from Wednesday, May 31, to Sunday, June 4. Residents also will set up to sell their treasures at Schmidt Park.

Vendors will be set up at Effingham County Fairgrounds Wednesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. There is no admission fee and items for sale will include antiques and collectibles, homemade quilts and afghans, tumblers, wall art, jewelry and more. Food will be available at the fairgrounds. Motorists are asked to enter at the west gate of the fairgrounds and exit at the east gate.

On Saturday, June 3, there will be food on the Triangle. Also on Saturday, the Altamont Fire Department will have its inaugural barbecue fundraiser at the VFW Post 7676 at 302 W. Cumberland Road. The fundraiser will include a barbecue competition, celebrity bartender, bags tournament, food and live music from 5 to 7 p.m. To enter the competition or for more info, call 217-994-3800.

On Sunday, the Dr. Charles M. Wright House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will be open for tours from 2 to 4 p.m. Visitors can also stop at the Historic National Road kiosk at the entrance to Gilbert Park.

Look for sales along the road at Exhaust Works, where years' worth of items will be up for sale, as well as sales at an antique mall and resale shop.

A map of citywide garage sales and other activities in the city will be available at the barricades at the four-way stop. Motorists can pull into the Sarah Bush Lincoln parking lot and grab a map.

Other area towns along the National Road also will participating in the festival.

St. Elmo will have a community sale Wednesday, May 31, through Saturday, June 3, in support of the Summer Lunch Program. Donated items will be sold at the Community Center, The Centennial Building, at the park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. The Centennial Building is located off Third and Elm streets, three blocks north of The Historic National Road (Route 40). Household items, books and puzzles will be sold.

All proceeds from the sale will go to support the Free Summer Lunch Program for all kids in St. Elmo, for which there are no requirements. Meals are given out at the Centennial Building on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 1 p.m. Kids can get an extra meal on Mondays and Wednesdays for Tuesdays and Thursdays. For more information call Fred Wagner at 618-461-1032.

Stop at the St. Elmo Library on the south side of the street for a photo op with an oil well and a railroad crossing sign.

Heading toward Brownstown, look for working oil wells in the fields. A little farther west, on the north side of the road, watch for Route 40 Flea Market and shop for items in an air-conditioning building.

On the outskirts of Brownstown, watch for signs at W. 1550 St., where there will be treasures set up at the parking lot of the Brownstown Community Center, to the south of the highway.

Leaving Brownstown, travel on to Vandalia, the original end to the Historic National Road.

Get out and walk around the Vandalia Statehouse, Illinois' capital from 1836 to 1839. Across the street you can get your picture taken with Abraham Lincoln sitting on a bench at the Lincoln Park.

If you take a spur off the Historic National Road, you will pass by Old State Burial Ground established in 1823. Vandalia also has historic murals on its buildings.

Another photo op is at the Community Building on the south side of the road, where a World War II tank sits outside of the American Legion Post 1180.

In Effingham, the event will coincide with St. Anthony of Padua Parish annual Treasure Sale Friday, June 2, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, June 3, from 8 a.m. to noon. The sale will be at St. Anthony Parish Center a few blocks north of Route 40 at the corner of Fourth Street and Virginia Avenue.

The downtown square of the Effingham County Museum and Veterans Memorial will be the site of the Effingham Farmers Market on Saturday, June 3, from 8 a.m. to noon. Nearby, at 112 East Section Avenue, from 1 to 8 p.m. is Magic & Mischief: A Fairy Market.