Bustin’ Out All Over / SFJ Auction 2010 Report
by Lynn R. Miller
photos by Kristi Gilman-Miller
If you were there you might have a good sense of the entire event… but then again you might not. I was there, from the beginning on throughout and I can’t tell you first hand what all occurred. A lot of people showed up, things were happening in every corner of the lovely old fairgrounds pretty much non-stop. We had more items consigned than we have ever had, we worked up to three auction rings selling at the same time, and I can tell you it felt like a good time was had by most.
The 2010 SFJ Auction Event is history now, a thick entry in our memory banks for what most of us would call a success, not all of us, but most. So it might be all right now to confess my early concerns. You see, I thought that the terrible recession we are in would hamper this annual gathering. People, I thought, wouldn’t show up. We’d have a smattering of consignments to try to sell to a handful of folks without much money. Vendors would hang back and the swap meet would be thin; those people who come every year as a vacation or to network or both would not be able to afford the trek. Yep, I had all those trepidations but I pretty much kept them to myself because I figured that this year was going to be the most important one for the auction and for all those reasons. We, all of us, needed it to work. We needed to get together and remind ourselves of what we truly valued. We needed a place to sell some stuff for a little extra cash, we needed to find that item at a price we might be able to afford, we needed to talk with others who could help us with that implement adjustment or that equine behavioral thing, or to bounce farming ideas off of. And we needed to be in the middle of all that raw positive energy.
It was a good month before the event that I started to feel the worries slip away; it was going to be a big one. So we trusted that instinct and built upon our plans to add several aspects to the event’s time frame. We had already committed to doing a first time, small horsedrawn plowing match during our final check-in day. (That was a big gamble simply because the final check-in day is always a monstrous undertaking for staff and volunteers – tough adding another responsibility.) A.J. (Amy Jo) Ferris and Marilyn Warren worked to bring more vendors and demonstrators on to the grounds and though they were disappointed that all they invited didn’t show, it was a tremendous success for all of us. With backyard chicken demos and Sheep dogs working and spinning and teamster round-tabling and blacksmithing and livestock displays on and on, it was a festival of back to the land sharing. With windmills and bread-making equipment and boot-making and wheel-wrighting and MUSIC, it was an absolutely grand time. Everybody smiling, everybody helping each other, everybody happy to be there – it was raw positive energy.
We had folks join us from New York, Alabama, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, South Carolina, Texas, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Iowa, Ohio, Utah, Missouri, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, and British Columbia, amongst other states and provinces. Jim and Pam Smith brought their business, The Back to the Land Store, all the way out from Tennessee, to set up two booths for our trade show. It was a grand mix of folks.
That’s not to say we didn’t have problems and shortcomings. First; we had too much stuff to try to sell in three days of auctioneering – so we made the judgment to run two or three sale rings whenever we could. And we decided that we had to sell implements, outside, well after dark. With hindsight I now say that was a mistake but at the time we truly had no option, being limited to three days to get thousands of items sold.
Second; we refused to give up on the idea that the northwest needed a draft horse and mule auction and had to learn the hard way that there just isn’t support from buyers or sellers for us to do it. So we say a fond and painful goodbye to that aspect of our event. No more horse auction. Instead we are toying with the European concept of a market fair for work and driving horses in which animals are paraded and formally introduced to seated buyers, then the animals return to the tie rail as prospective buyers haggle directly with horse owners.
In keeping with a crazy economy, prices at auction were up and down. Some things went way too cheap, while we set a few auction records on implements. You may have already heard the rumor that we were selling good rebuilt #9 mowers for $4,000 a pop. Put your mind to rest on your very next thought when I tell you I have already had 12 rebuilt mowers consigned for next year, a certain guarantee that the price will drop. We did have a beautiful Oliver 50 walking plow all complete, new/old stock, with original paint and decals. It sold for $500. And we had a brand new Pioneer foot-lift sulky plow sell for $1,900. Pioneer forecarts variously outfitted, new and used, went for from $750 to $1,700 apiece. But there were plenty of serviceable implements that went dirt cheap. Even some excellent restored implements fell through the cracks when people weren’t looking. But I guess that’s what makes it an auction.
The plowing match was very well received, so much so that the fairgrounds has offered us four times as much area to plow next year so we’re thinking about expanding the horse workings to include demonstrations of field implements, perhaps even some that will sell later at auction.
This year we featured a Ryan Foxley and friends string band concert, featuring Axle, Tom and Ryan. It was truly fabulous. Everyone who attended was transfixed and engaged with the old-time and new-time music. By the end there were even folks dancing, older generations taking the cue to teach the younger ones a few steps. What a hit! We’re going to do whatever it takes to bring them back next year.
Speaking of that, along with folks wanting Ryan back, we’ve already received lots of suggestions and requests for next year’s event. On top of the list: more specific clinics i.e. a cultivator setup presentation, field trials of implements, butter-making, bread-baking, windmill suitability discussions, sheep shearing, sack sewing (as in grain sacks), walking plow adjustments, and a whole bunch more. We’re definitely going to be challenged to get it done. But we have the human resources to make it come true.
Speaking of which; we can’t begin to name every single person who made this year work but behind the scenes from day one were the Miller family, the SFJ staff, the Turmons and the Jefferson County Fairgrounds staff. Lou and Marilyn Warren worked for months coordinating all of the RV’s and camping, a monumental task they accomplished with style and grace. A.J. Ferris (Amy Jo) also worked for months and until her nerves were frayed putting together the swap meet and trade show which included most of the demonstrations and clinics. She coordinated advertising for our program and put together our list of sponsors. She also did all of the front-line paperwork for the horse sale. Hers is often a thankless job (unless we do individually thank her) but I assure you were it not for her energy, intelligence, attention to detail and smile it would not come off at all! The staggering minutiae of running the auction office and mountains of accounting is superbly handled by Kathy Blann and Kris Turmon with their crew of assistants. Setup for such a frenzied and complex event takes a lot of planning but that is worth nothing without a ground crew to pull it together. For this I was joined by my auction co-manager and good friend, Dennis Turmon, and our front line crew which expanded this year to include some new additions: Ed Joseph, Ron and Anita Van Grunsven (of Idaho), Jon Neuenschwander, Jon Peasley and family, Bob and Julie Olson (of Colorado), Joe Jeffray (of Alberta, Canada), Phred Weinert, Kristi and Scout Miller, Juliet Poullion (of Washington), Harry Ferris, Robert Clark (of Montana), Lise Hubbe, Walt Bernard, Mr. & Mrs. Jonathon Jude, Patrick Baginski and girls (of California), Barb Tobie, Doug Hammill (of Montana), John Erskine and Glen Mahan (both of Washington), Clarence Wilson, the Mike McIntosh family, the Klesick family (of Washington), Paul Hunter and Robin Keller (of Washington), Betsy Wittick and friends (of Washington), and a busload (literally) of friends from Evergreen State College in Washington. Countless other auction goers lent a hand wherever and whenever it was needed. Add to this our outstanding group of auctioneers; Dennis Turmon, Marcus Morgan, Scotty Taylor and Dan Macon (of California) along with terrific clerks Joyce Sharp, Suzie Clarke, and Allie Thurman. And one young, energetic and enthusiastic runner, Kelley Thurman. Whew! And that’s only a portion!
No dates set in stone for next year. We are definitely staying at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds so long as they will have us. It’s enough to say we are shooting for around the same time in April. We’re trying to work out some bugs in the days of the week business. This year it was Wednesday through Saturday. Most folks liked it but some were upset over the change and want to go back to concluding on Sunday. To stir things up I said we should make the event Monday through Friday, to which one auctioneer was heard to growl “who needs him?” (A fund is being started to raise money to send me away to France for an April in Paris. That way things could be done right with next year’s auction and swap….? My feelings should be hurt… shouldn’t they?)
Once again we must conclude with a great big thank you to several dozen volunteers and a fantastic crew and staff without whom this event would not happen. Thank you friends, one and all! LRM
