On February 5 we went to Mantorville for a night of fun in the Mantorville Opera House. The Mantorville Restoration Association had a fundraiser auction and variety show as part of their annual Snow Days celebration. We had everything except snow this year. There were many nice items donated for the auction and a nice variety show. I put a number of pictures in my auction gallery so you can look and see who was there.

On October 23 & 24 we conducted the two day “pop culture” auction for the Stephen Fymbo estate from Iowa. We used on-line bidding for the first time at this auction. The on-line bidding added a new dimension to the auction. At times several people on-line continued to bid after bidding was done on the floor. Talk about excitement. When 5 people are trying to bid on-line at one time it is something to see. We had a good auction with good prices on some very unusual one-of-a-kind items. The Beatles Car Mascots in original package sold for $700.

On August 14 we conducted an auction in Rochester for Scott Van Hooser. Scott had assembled one of the largest collections of seasonal decorations that I have ever seen. Scott also had a huge collection of Dept 56 Dickens Village and New England Village houses. In addition to these items there were numerous pieces of nice old depression glass, antiques, furniture, and household decor items. We were fortunate to have a beautiful day, lots of help in getting the auction ready, and a wonderful crowd of interested bidders. We had 150 bidding numbers at the auction. We sold over 800 lots of merchandise in just under 6 hours. We averaged about 135 lots per hour, which is really moving.

We did the Ehlers auction on July 31. What a beautiful day for a farm auction. We had a wonderful auction with about 250 bidders. Prices were good and the items sold were extremely interesting. The JD 2040 brought $9300. A Garton pedal tractor brought $235. I had help auctioneering from Abner Jacobson of Glenwood MN. Abner is a member of the Minnesota Auctioneer’s Hall of Fame with over 50 years of auction experience. Stan’s farm is located on a busy highway. I want to take a moment to thank the many members of Stan & Marge’s family who provided transportation to and from the parking area which was located on a neighbor’s hay field. They set up a shuttle with 4 wheelers and snowmobile trailers that was comforable, fun, and above all safe. Great job and a great day.