Bargain-hunters stopping at New Harvest Assembly of God along U.S. 127 south this weekend may find more than a cheap set of golf clubs or a useful piece of furniture.

They may find a welcoming congregation.

As part of the 21st U.S. 127 Corridor Sale, Pastor Paul Larose said his church is setting up a tent next to the spaces they've lent to vendors during the weekend for the annual event, which began on Thursday.

On Sunday, the congregation will hold an outdoor worship service.

"This is the first year we're doing it," said Larose, whose congregation recently moved into the building formerly occupied by Westside Christian Church.

"One of the things we wanted to do was let people know we're here to serve the community," Larose said.

Tom Schwinghammer of Saint Henry, Ind., and his wife, Theresa, occupied three of the 50 spaces in the church lot.

Schwinghammer, a self-titled "professional junker," said he has been setting up shop the past three years at what's billed as the World's Largest Yard Sale.

His assortment of "a little bit of everything" was neatly organized by price on tables and included antique glass, cattle skulls and wooden chairs.

"I'll buy anything I can make a dollar on," Schwinghammer, a former marine, said. "A big variety, that's what sells."

Schwinghammer said he has met people nationwide selling at the sale. He said it is a one-of-a-kind event.

"It's probably the best sale of its type because it has been going the longest and everyone knows about it," he said.

Franklin County residents like Joyce Comes also have come to appreciate the sale, which stretches more than 600 miles from West Unity, Ohio, to Gadsen, Ala.

Comes, whose house resides just off U.S. 127 on Demerson Lane, said she has been participating in the sale along with family and friends since its inception in 1987.

"The first time we set up we didn't know about it," Comes said. "Only later did we find out and say, "Oh, that's why all those people came.'"

Several small tents with clothing, purses and assorted items were set up outside on her front lawn as people came and went.

"People say they like to go to yard sales instead of flea market-type sales," Comes said. "They say it looks better."

Comes said one couple from Georgia would stop and buy a decorative whiskey container every year.

"You meet people that you see once a year," she said.

The U.S. 127 Corridor Sale is headquartered in Jamestown, Tenn. It was started by a former Fentress County executive to bring travelers from the interstates to less traveled highways of Kentucky and Tennessee, according to the U.S. 127 Corridor Sale Web site.