Treasure trove of antiques, items displayed in yard

When you drive past the home of Waymon and Margaret Bass, you can’t help but turn your head to look at all of their yard art. Items range from a functional McDonald’s carousel to hand-crafted art, unique signs, antiques, wagons, statues, windmills, birdhouses and more than can be taken in during one visit.The items have been gathered from all over the Southeast and arranged in the front yard of their Concord home. ’We’ve lived here since 2000, so 14 years now, and we go everywhere to collect stuff,’ said Waymon. ‘We’ve been as far as Michigan to collect things and we have a lot of items from all over Georgia and Florida. We just go everywhere.’Along with a fish pond and water wheel, there is a terraced area filled with hundreds of frog statues and items. The couple remembers most of the places where they acquired the thousands of items and some of the stories behind each unique piece. Waymon said a barber’s chair was used for dentistry, hair cuts and medical use because the owner did all three in his small town over the years. Among the antique items displayed are old washing machines, a scale, signs, farm implements, pay phone booths and several other antiques.Along with many other signs are two used during local filming of The Walking Dead television series. The couple work hard to make their items unique, creating, painting and crafting new items from old junk. Waymon took an old spool used for wire and made around 24 small seats to transform it into a Ferris wheel with paint and a specially welded base to allow it to rotate freely.’We really use a lot of paint around here,’ he said. Margaret said they look for any old or unusual items. She said she does not really have a favorite, all of them together are her favorite. The items ‘“ immaculately displayed with well-cut grass and landscaping ‘“ are eye-catching from Highway 18. ’People from everywhere come through here,’ said Waymon. ‘They tell their family and they stop by too when they’re in the area. All the local motorcycle rides come through. They just ride in and circle around the driveway before heading on their way.’