GLASGOW, Ky. — For most people, a hometown is a single place on a map. For Tara Rhodes-Hall, it is a highway stretching across Kentucky.

“I never felt I had a hometown,” she said.

Rhodes-Hall spent much of her childhood moving from place to place. She lived in Paducah, where her mother taught at Farley Elementary School, before eventually graduating high school in Elkton. Her journey continued through Murray and Hopkinsville as she pursued her education, with frequent stops in Cadiz for ice cream and burgers.

Church activities regularly brought her to the Glasgow area, while visits to Edmonton were a routine part of life. Seminary later took her to Wilmore, where she lived along the Kentucky River Palisades in Mercer County.

Along the way came the kinds of experiences that only seem possible over a lifetime spent on the road, including losing a debit card in Paris and, most memorably, giving birth to her youngest child on the side of Highway 68 near Brooklyn Bridge in the Palisades.

“It suddenly struck me: Highway 68 is my hometown,” Rhodes-Hall said.

Today, that realization has taken on new meaning.

Rhodes-Hall serves as director of the 400 Mile Sale, a Kentucky tradition that has drawn bargain hunters, travelers and treasure seekers to communities along Highway 68 for more than two decades.

“Imagine you get the honor and privilege of promoting your hometown,” she said. “That's how I look at it.”

This year's sale runs June 4-7 and once again will transform communities along the route into a sprawling roadside marketplace. Part of the event passes through Barren County along Highway 68.

Over the years, the sale has evolved into more than a giant yard sale. It has become a tourism event that introduces visitors to small Kentucky communities they might otherwise drive past without a second thought.

Rhodes-Hall said the economic impact is difficult to measure, but the influence of the event is evident in the crowds it attracts and the connections it creates.

“For the sellers, a lot of it is getting to meet all the people,” she said. “I had a lady tell me one time she doesn't need to travel in June. She can see the United States from her front yard because people come from all over.”

The event also depends on community support. While much of the work behind the scenes is done by volunteers, organizing and promoting the sale comes with expenses. Organizers rely on participating communities and sponsors to help fund the effort.

Sponsorships are available for $1,000, Rhodes-Hall said, a price that has remained unchanged throughout the event's more than 20-year history.

“I am kind of a community volunteer guru in a lot of ways,” she said.

The 400 Mile Sale was founded over 20 years ago by Debbie Spencer in the Warren County area. Spencer's original vision was to create an antique trail that would connect communities along the Highway 68 corridor.

Rhodes-Hall is the third director in the event's history and has been in the role for about five years. Much of her work involves encouraging counties to participate, coordinating marketing efforts and answering questions from the thousands of buyers and sellers who take part each summer.

“In some ways, it doesn't ever stop,” she said. “It allows me to give back to all the place that nurtured me and loved me and my children.”

That sense of giving back mirrors what many visitors find when they arrive.

The communities along the route may seem ordinary to the people who live there, but for travelers they often offer something increasingly difficult to find: a slower pace, welcoming faces and a glimpse of small-town Kentucky.

“I think they like Kentucky. I think they like us,” she said. “I think they like that bit of southern hospitality they get. When you go to one of these sales, the people are excited to see you. For some people, this is like their vacation.”

Just as important as the bargains, Rhodes-Hall said, are the traditions the event creates. Year after year, families return together, turning the sale into an annual ritual.

“I'll see intergenerational stuff,” she said. “I'll see a grandma and a teenage grandchild. I'll see a mom shopping, and the little kids looking at toys and selling as well. There's a job for everybody.”

Organizers encourage sellers to register their sales at no cost through the 400 Mile Sale website. Find more information here.