Finding closure amid the Lincoln Flea Market

The Lincoln Flea Market has been an institution here nearly every year since 1977, and for organiz-er Jill Sallin, it was a tough one this year.

Sitting under a canopy in 90-degree weather Thursday afternoon, July 14, Jill watched as vendors began to arrive and set up for the weekend. "It's getting more popular for people to come in Thursday instead of Friday morning," she said, adding one vendor showed up Tuesday to set up, which was a bit too early. "If that starts happening too much, I may have to put a kibosh on that."

Jill took over as the event's main organizer just last year, and things were looking good for a banner weekend this year, with a full slate of 50 vendors scheduled to arrive for the weekend. "I had a waiting list this year, which was the first time," she said. While the weather was a bit on the hot side, there was neither rain nor smoke in the forecast.

However, what was ahead for the weekend was a Saturday evening celebration of life for her mom, Jesse Sallin, who passed away in November.

"This was her love and joy," Jill said, "We just figured it would be a good weekend to do a celebra-tion, but it is making it tougher."

Jesse started the flea market 45 years ago with Pat Habets, with the goal of creating something that would draw people to town. Although Jesse handed over the reins at times – it even went away for a few years before being revived – she became the face of the flea market after she began organiz-ing it again in 2002 with the help of her long-time friend Bud Kuich, who succumb to cancer in 2012.

Holding the memorial during the flea market also provided a chance for long-time vendors to say their goodbyes.

"She really didn't want anything, but I think the town of Lincoln needs something, they need a chance to say goodbye and I need a chance to say goodbye, put some closure on it," Jill said.

When all was said and done, Jill said the weekend turned out well, although the flea market didn't see the usual turnout of customers. Likewise, there were a few vendors who simply didn't show up, which was disappointing since she had a waiting list.

"Most of the vendors said it was slow this year," Jill said. "Everyone made enough to pay their fees and a bit more, but not as much as they had before."

Crucially, Jesse's celebration drew a good group of people, most of them locals who wanted to re-member her and say goodbye. "It worked out great. Some of her closest friends were there," Jill said.

"Overall, I think it was a really nice way to get to share memories," said Kate Radford, Jesse's granddaughter, who made the trip back to Lincoln for the weekend.

Lincoln's volunteer firefighters turned out to do the cooking for the memorial. When Jill ap-proached them about it, the response was "Yes, definitely." They even turned down her offer to pay for the help, saying "we'll do it for Jesse."

"It was very generous of the fire department to volunteer to cook for everyone. Hopefully they got a good number of donations," Radford said.

Jesse had been an ardent supporter of the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department, donating a quilt every year for the Fireman's Ball auction and quietly providing occasional cash donations to help the firefighters meet equipment needs when budgets got tight.

In addition to the cookout by the firefighters, people also brought salads and desserts. "Potlucks always turnout well," Jill said "People stuck around and visited for a while. I think Mom would have like it."