We had a busy Labor Day weekend. We were able to get to the State Fair, which we always enjoy. On August 30 I helped Larry Valek and Dale Swanson do an auction for the Rice County Steam and Gas Association at their site south of Dundas on Highway 3. This is an annual event with an auction, a nice flea market, and an exceptional display and parade of old tractors. This year International Harvester was featured. Next year’s feature will be Oliver!!

Right after the auction, I went to the airport to pick up Nathan, who just returned from a month studying in Albania. On Sunday we went antiquing in Rochester and Mantorville, and Monday to antique stores in Red Wing.

This week we will be busy with Defeat of Jesse James Days in Northfield. On Saturday, I will be announcing at the Antique Tractor Pull. I have done this for the past few years and it is always a fun event. This is one of the oldest (and best) antique tractor pulls in Southern Minnesota. It is very well run and you can see some of the best old tractors around. You can take in the tractor pull and stay for the rodeo without even moving your car. Don’t miss the parade and all the food on Bridge Square.

We are working on completing the listing for the Marilyn Machacek Estate auction which will be held on October 18 and 19. The auction flyers will be ready soon and we will soon have the catalog up on the web. There are about 750 pictures for your enjoyment. This will really be a fine auction, with some very nice and unusual pieces. Marilyn was widely known for her knowledge of fine antiques.

Our Fall season really gets going with the Wood milk glass auction in Albert Lea on September 20, with lots of work before then to get the auctions ready.

We just found more boxes with about 25,000 more cards. Also large size Donruss pictures, Twin’s Christmas tree ornaments, etc. There aren’t many sports card auctions with this many cards, so be sure to come to this one. You can start looking at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning. We will have signs out on the morning of the auction.

The Aug. 23 auction will be indoors at Grandpa’s Garage (air conditioned). Lunch will be available. There will be plenty of seating available. Grandpa’s Garage is located just East of Hwy 52 on the South edge of Cannon Falls. You can watch for Curt’s Cannonball Restaurant on Hwy 52. Grandpa’s Garage is about one block East and one block South of the “Cannonball”. Remember, you can reach me until auction time at 507-649-1983. Once the auction starts, you will have to talk to my wife, so call early.

I had a busy week working on auctions. I spent Thursday helping with the Odd Fellows/Three Links Golf fund raiser in Northfield, MN. We had an evening auction with many nice donated items to sell. A “Harmon Killebrew” autographed baseball brought $200, and Twins bobbleheads brought $25 each. It was a good fundraiser, Ragnar the Viking was there, along with a number of famous sports figures. It’s a good feeling to participate in raising money for a good cause.

An update on the baseball card auction which will be held in Cannon Falls on August 23. The auction will begin at 10:00 AM. The cards will be available for inspection at 8:00 AM. The more we work on the cards, the larger my estimate becomes. I attempted to guess the total number of cards by estimation based on volume. My first guess was about 200,000, but I am sure there are more than a quarter million, maybe even 300,000.

The cards represent all major brands who were making baseball and football cards in the 1980’s and 1990’s. There are also numerous hockey, basketball, racing, women’s basketball, and cheerleader cards.

There are all the cards you would expect, rookies, Twins, “stars” and commons, as well as a number of graded cards, and inserts. There are a series of “tins” from Donruss, there are round “tokens”, there are some boxed sets, We are still sorting cards at this moment. It should be a fascinating auction.

If you have any specific questions that I can try to answer, you can reach me on my cell phone at 507-649-1983, or at 507-645-7758.