Sold to the highest bidder

Treasures can be found at auctions

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Monday evening auction, from February through November, is a long-standing tradition at the Elizabeth Community Center. The organizer for close to 20 years is Dale Zempel, assisted by his wife, Deb.

“We started at the old Silver Dollar, and came here after the community center was built,” Zempel said. “People come from a 60-mile radius. We average about 100 people who attend during the summer months. Each fall we run between 50 and 75 people.”

People can drop off items between 1 and 6 p.m. each Monday with the auction itself starting about 6:30 p.m.

“We take anything with the expectation of clothing,” Zempel said. “People bring in a lot of glassware, tools, furniture and miscellaneous items. Now and then we auction off a car.”

This is a win-win-win situation for Zempel, the Elizabeth Community Center and those who drop off items. Each shares in auction proceeds. In addition, the Elizabeth Lions Club runs the kitchen and sells BBQs, hot dogs, ham and cheese sandwiches and beverages.

“Selling food during the Monday evening auction is one of our main money generators,” said Lions Club member and volunteer Jerry Schauff. “Locally, we’ve used money to build a shelter here at the city park in Elizabeth. Our club also helps 4-H groups, the Salvation Army, area camps for kids and Relay for Life, to name a few.”

As part of the Lions International organization, the club also donates money for guide dogs and equipment that helps the hearing impaired. Special events include sponsoring — at the Elizabeth Community Center — an annual Christmas party for day activity center (DAC) clients at Fergus Falls-based Productive Alternatives.

“We rotate volunteers for the Monday evening auctions,” Schauff said. “This is a good event that benefits a lot of people. Those who attend also have an enjoyable time.”

The community center uses its auction financial share for upkeep, utilities and other projects.

The Zempels are assisted before each auction when they sort out the various items that are dropped off at the community center in Elizabeth.

Retirees and others drop in Monday afternoon to see what’s available for the upcoming auction. One of them is Joe Wedll of Erhard who is retired.

“I enjoy coming here Monday afternoons,” Wedll said. “Each year I attend close to half of the auctions. It’s fun to look over what people have brought in and I get the chance to visit with people.”

Another regular is Dan Kvenvolden of Fergus Falls. On Monday he took a look at duck decoys and other items, later auctioned.

When asked about unusual recollections, and things out of the ordinary, auctioneer Zempel recalled six years ago when someone brought in a slave cradle dating back to the Civil War era. Slave cradles were used by field workers so their infants could accompany them.

“That slave cradle sold for about $800,” Zempel said. “Over the years we’ve seen anything and everything.”

Aasness and Seifert are noted auctioneers:

When talking about auctioneers in Otter Tail County, two prominent individuals in the profession are Cary Aasness of Dalton and Loren Seifert of Pelican Rapids. Both are not only noted auctioneers, but they also are well-known for helping to raise funds at charity auctions.

Aasness, a past Minnesota state champion auctioneer, offers a Web site, a full staff, top caliber auctioneers, computerized clerking, setup, cleanup and line up crew.

“We can do it all,” Aasness says, “with up to date high-tech equipment, extensive high target advertising and marketing and the professional expertise (20 years) to get the job done right for you.”

A highlight for Aasness was working as an auctioneer for Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., billed as the world’s greatest collector car event.

Locally, and throughout the Midwest, Aasness is involved with real estate auctions and accompanying personal property auctions.

“For personal property, the number one thing for people to do is organize, really get things cleaned for display and throw away the junk,” he said.

The biggest surprise for Aasness over the years are items for which people were willing to pay high prices — items he never dreamed would go that high. “What one person doesn’t think of as unique, another person will,” he said.

One of the most unique items Aasness sold at an area auction was a cannon that originated from the 7th Cavalry in North Dakota. The cannon was sold back to the State of North Dakota and now is on display at an historic fort.

“The cannon brought several thousand dollars,” he said.

Seifert has been a professional auctioneer for 25 years. He’s also a past Minnesota champion auctioneer.

The Pelican Rapids businessman is known for his expertise with an experienced setup crew, national auction internet advertising, over 30 years of farming/ranch experience, professional auction equipment and display trailers.

“We tell people that the cleaner an item is, the better it looks,” Seifert said. “As for the unusual, that would be about 10 years ago at Devils Lake, N.D., where a human skull was at the auction site — somehow gotten from a dentist in a prior year. The skull wasn’t auctioned off, however, but was there just for display purposes.”