photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

John and Jolene Wade are pictured on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, as they prepared for their annual sale.

As soon as there’s a hint of autumn in the air — and sometimes even before that — the Wades’ phone starts ringing. Callers want to know when the nuts and fruits are coming.

“And then, like if we have more than two or three cars in the driveway, some of the neighbors will start pulling in to see if it’s started yet,” said Jolene Wade ahead of the family’s annual 10-day sale, which usually starts in early November, depending largely on the timing of the harvest in California’s central valley.

When that sometimes precarious West Coast event wraps up, a semi-truck full of food makes its way to Lawrence, specifically to 693 East 1250 Road, where Jolene, her husband, John, and their large German Baptist family package, label and display it in a backyard building that bears the humble signs “Dried Fruits” and “Nuts.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The building where the Wades have their annual fruit and nut sale.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Wades live south of Lawrence and sell fruits and nuts in November for 10 days.

It’s a plain building at the end of a long gravel driveway, but inside is a rich array of fresh walnuts — John emphasizes “fresh” repeatedly to distinguish them from some store-bought varieties that can be surprisingly old. Plus almonds, pecans, pistachios and other nuts along with mounds of dried apricots, blueberries, figs, peaches, pears and other produce. The impression, looking down the long rows of bins, is of a giant deconstructed fruitcake waiting to be made.

Interspersed with the fruits and nuts are assorted honeys, spices, extracts, trail mixes, canned meats, nut butters and chocolate treats.

The Wades are delighted to cater to customers planning their holiday menus, but they are also catering to their own desire for fellowship and community.

When asked why he carries on the sale decade after decade, John gives a one-word answer: “Friends.”

When pressed to elaborate, he mentions people who have been coming to the sale practically their whole lives and who have made it a special family tradition.

“They came with their parents or grandparents from, you know, 1975, ’76, ’77,” and they keep coming as adults, bringing their own kids and grandkids, he says. “It’s like an extended friendship that continues on and on.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Jolene Wade displays a bowl of mixed nuts on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, ahead of their annual sale.

John, 63 now, was himself just a kid when he became part of the tradition — thanks, largely, to the price of English walnuts in 1971. That was when family friends Floyd and Vertrilla Overholtzer from California decided they couldn’t accept the paltry 18 cents a pound that was being offered for their walnuts on the West Coast. They decided to market their crop elsewhere.

Loading up to visit three of their children in Ohio for Christmas, they brought along their walnuts — their almonds too — and stopped all along the way at German Baptist communities to sell their goods, including at the Lawrence home of Donna Wade, John’s mom.

The sale got a good response, so the Overholtzers returned every year, adding fruit to their inventory and even home-cured olives, which John remembers stuffing into his face as a kid and getting sick from the delicious, salty over-indulgence.

At first the Overholtzers sold the food right out of their truck, but as demand grew, John’s mom offered her garage and basement as a seasonal sales floor. Eventually the Overholtzers were no longer up to all the traveling, and John, then living in California, stepped in and helped get the goods back to his mom in Kansas.

photo by: Contributed

Donna Wade, John Wade’s mother, is pictured with the Overholtzers in this undated photo.

By 2006, John had returned to live in Kansas and took over the annual sale with Jolene and their seven kids. The sale lasts only for 10 days — this year from Nov. 5 to Nov. 14 — but the Wades start preparing in the spring, visiting growers in California, checking on availability, quality, prices and lots of other details. They also carry a few things that come from other locales — like the coconut macaroon almonds that are new this year.

Despite the sale being in its 55th year and selling out virtually every time, the Wades say they still have a touch of anxiety every year. “What if no one comes to buy all of this?” Jolene says. But then the opening day comes around “and cars start rolling in, and some of them are parked clear down the driveway.”

Friends who have moved far away contact the Wades to get their goodies dropped in the mail, but those who collect their items in person are greeted with long rows of bins in a particular order.

“We have a list that we mail out to people, and we try to put the products kind of in that order because a lot of people, especially if they’ve been here for years, they have their little list marked, have highlighted what they want and come down here with their basket, and they get it all.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

John and Jolene Wade are pictured on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, as they prepared for their annual sale.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A selection of nut butters that the Wades sell, pictured on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Canned meats are displayed at the Wade’s sale, pictured on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Bins of dried fruit are pictured Monday, Nov. 2, 2026.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Honey and other items are also available at the Wades’ fruit and nut sale.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A new item at this year’s sale at the Wades’ is a harvest blend nut mix.