Nice day for a deal

Blue skies Saturday help to draw large crowd to annual fundraiser

Weather, rather than a slumping economy, turned out to be the biggest driver at this year's Creston Auction.

A snow shower Friday morning seemed to deter people from bringing merchandise, but a sunny Saturday helped bring out a larger-than-average crowd of buyers looking for bargains.

By the end of Friday, the auction's consignment day, the merchandise rows were smaller than they had been in years. Many auction veterans guessed that the sour economy might have spurred people to sell belongings that they typically wouldn't have. But it didn't turn out that way.

"I expected we would just be pounded with stuff to sell, but it turned out the other way around," said Lee Buller, a Creston firefighter who has attended the auctions his entire life.

"We got a lot of better stuff this year, in my opinion," said Lynn Ogle, chief of the North Fork Fire Department and a 25-year auction volunteer. "We are down on merchandise, but we are up on quality, and we [have a] bigger buying crowd."

Ogle noted that there were lots of new refrigerators and other appliances, along with barbecues and quality tools for sale, an indication to him that those items were being sold by people who are moving.

Ogle expected Saturday's general auction to be finished by 5 p.m., very early compared to past years when auction activity continued past dark. He is convinced that Friday's foul weather discouraged people from bringing merchandise.

Creston Fire Chief Gary Mahugh had a similar opinion, noting that auction organizers got many calls from people saying that they could not get to their storage sheds this week because of snow and mud.

Planning for the auction was complicated this year by uncertainty about what kind of turnout to expect because of the economy, Mahugh said.

"It was a gamble. We didn't know how much merchandise would come and what the buyer turnout would be," said Mahugh, who has been to every auction in the event's 43-year history.

In its first few years, the auction was held during the fall, but organizers found that it conflicted with harvest work when agriculture dominated cities outside the Flathead Valley. So the auction was moved to the first weekend in April, ahead of the spring planting season.

Despite the risk of conflicting with bad weather, it has stayed that way ever since, Mahugh said, largely because of tradition but also for practical reasons.

Most importantly, Mahugh said, it needs to be held "between seasons' to recruit a force of about 200 volunteers who are necessary to pull off the event.

This year's auction required buyers to purchase $5 cards, a change that was implemented mostly to cover security expenses that amount to several thousand dollars.

Another new wrinkle this year was an opening ceremony intended to recognize a charter member of the fire department, Bill Ambrose, who has been involved with the district as a firefighter and trustee for the past 52 years.

In front of a lineup of firefighters, Montana Highway Patrol troopers, Flathead County Sheriff's deputies and posse, Ambrose and his wife, Louise, presented a flag that was raised and then lowered to half staff to honor three highway patrol troopers who have died in the line of duty during the past two years: Mike Haynes, Evan Schneider and David Graham.

"It was a good opening," said Deputy Fire Chief Bill Tidwell, who organized the ceremony. "It was very well received."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com