DETROIT (WWJ) – In an ongoing effort to raise money for Detroit Public Schools, the district continues to auction off items that have been sitting in storage.

WWJ Newsradio 950′s Laura Bonnell reports that, if you’re in the market for an antique aircraft engine, you’re in luck.

Jennifer Mrozowski with the Detroit Public Schools says that’s one of the unique items up for grabs in the online auction.

“These are going to be surplus World War II-era airline engines, propellers — vintage items dating back to the World War II era,” Mrozowski said.

Detroit public schools began auctioning off items in October and have since raised $380,000. The items were donated years ago to Davis Aerospace Technical High School.

The auction runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 19.

Source: http://detroit.cbslocal.com 

In the 95-degree heat, Patrick Bush had on a blue jumpsuit with white stripes that covered him from the neck down. He slipped a gleaming white helmet over his head and got on his souped-up John Deere tractor. The tractor wasn’t being used for farming. Few of the tractors at Franklin County Recreation Park were used for farming anymore. And Bush had built his three years ago specifically to compete.

Someone hitched his racing tractor to more than 1,000 pounds of metal. Bush revved the engine, and he was off, flying down the dirt track. The hundreds of people in the crowd erupted in cheers.

The tractor pull at the annual Southwest Virginia Antique Farm Days is often the biggest draw for the throngs of people that come each year. Brian Rutrough, the president of the Antique Farm Days organization, said this year’s event brought about 7,000 people. Blessed with warm weather and clear skies, guests, many from out of town, filled the park Saturday to get a glimpse of the farm equipment of the days of old.

Years before Smith Mountain Lake was around and tractors worked with diesel engines, Franklin County was covered in almost nothing but agriculture, shaping the area’s landscape for years to come.

Even now, Rutrough said, farmers make up a large bulk of the Franklin County populace.

“It’s what I would call the dominant industry of the county, always was,” he said. “That and moonshine.”

Antique Farm Days is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving historical farm machinery. The celebration that began Friday and ended Sunday brings in a huge chunk of its funds.

One of this year’s new pieces and projects was a 1915 steam engine, which the organization is in the process of restoring. Next year, Rutrough said, not only will it be up and running, it will be pulling a saw mill.

Craig Kern of Eagle Rock has come to Farm Days for 10 straight years. Kern sells antique farm tools, from old-fashioned screws to weed sickles, and said he made a killing Saturday.

“It’s a dying trade,” he said.

Younger people who farm today in the electric, diesel-filled world have never had to wield some of the older equipment that used to keep farms running. But selling them as antique pieces has found a niche following in the farming community.

The tractor pulls are often the most popular events. Riders on tractors of all sizes are timed as they pull about 1,000 pounds of weight several hundred yards.

George Peters, 74, of Floyd County started competing in tractor pulls four years ago. He said it was a fun activity for him to take up during retirement. By 3 p.m. Sunday, Peters had come in second place in two pulls on his orange Cub Cadet. His son, Greg, was helping him on the sidelines as his unofficial tractor pit crewman.

Farm Days, which usually coincides with Father’s Day, prides itself on being a good, family-friendly place to take dad. During the tractor pull Sunday there were lots of fathers and grandfathers giving and receiving cheers.

Cody Johnson, 6, had been practicing on his tractor for two months with the encouragement of his grandfather, George Johnson.

And on Sunday, as he lugged his tractor down the dirt path, his grandfather was walking right beside him, urging him over the finish line.

Source: www.roanoke.com 

Antique hunters are a breed unto themselves, Carol Koerner, of Carol's Antiques says. The Boise-based antique seller has been in business for 22 years. The antiques market is somewhat fickle from day to day and month to month.Carol's Antiques was at Vista Avenue and Overland Road before it moved to Five Mile and Overland roads.

"People around here won't pay California prices," she says. "Idahoans are tight, and they won't pay them period."

That's why when new temporary marketplaces come to town, she's a little hesitant to set up shop in them.

Koerner called BBB about the upcoming Summer Market in Boise at Expo Idaho on June 21 after the new trade show sought her participation. She was hesitant since display space generally is charged at a premium price. She said she couldn't afford to lose money on a poorly promoted show.

The Summer Market, presented by Bonnie Burhart, of Ontario, Ore., is scheduled to bring together 40 vendors from around the West.

Burhart says her antique dealership, Roses and Rust Vintage Market, began in Redding, Calif., and each year hosted an event with several dealers. "We're now at two shows a year, and it's a pretty big event," she says, they will continue to host.

Having moved to Ontario a year ago, she says residents of the Treasure Valley and surrounding communities seem to appreciate fine antiques and will make for a great show. She is hoping to lure those passionate antique hunters to the Boise Market.

For those shopping for antiques, BBB offers these tips:

• Do your homework. If you are looking to buy a big-ticket item, it's important to go to shops, shows or markets. To learn more about antiques and collectibles, visit shops, shows, auctions, flea markets, and house sales. Comparison shopping can save you headaches and haggling.

• Inspect the materials and conditions. Quality should be reflected in the price. Are there original tags or stickers on the item? Whatever the materials, expect some aging, but watch for flaws. Good inspection can turn into a negotiation point. If the dealer isn't busy, you may be able to ask him questions. Also watch your newspaper - auction houses will sometimes advertise free appraisals.

• Scope out the booths. Talking to the owner/vendor can give you an indication of the owner's trustworthiness. Ask questions, look at prices you're familiar with, explore the booth's transparency.

• Listen to your inner voice. If a price seems too good to be true, you may want to simply walk away. If the price is too high, you may haggle.

If you want to hire a professional appraiser, check the phone book under Appraisers or contact auction galleries and antique dealers. Make sure the appraiser has been in business a number of years and get references.

Never hire an appraiser who bases his fee on a percentage of the appraised value. He may inflate his appraisal in order to get a higher fee.

Beware of appraisers who offer to buy an item as well as appraise it. They may lower their appraisal to get a better bargain for themselves.




Source: www.idahostatesman.com 

A friendly agreement that went bad has two neighboring antique dealers on U.S. Route 201 in Fairfield trading barbs and accusations over a state court order that one of the businesses clean its debris-covered property.

Robert Dale, owner of Maine 201 Antiques, has been ordered by the 12th District Court to clean up furniture, tools, vehicles and other junk from the sprawling front yard of his business by June 15.

Dale says the court order was the result of a campaign of harassment by the Fairfield Antique Mall, which has operated on the property next door for the past 17 years.

The two companies used to work together, but when their business arrangement soured a couple of years ago, the business dispute quickly became personal, Dale said.

“When we severed ties they tried to close me down,” Dale said.

In early March, Dale and the town of Fairfield reached an agreement to settle a court case brought by the town. That agreement called for Dale to reimburse the town about $10,000 in legal fees and clean up his yard.

Dale said Monday that he has been working to comply with the order and that he plans to meet the June 15 deadline.

He said he has sold some of the items and put others into storage to meet the order.

“I’ve moved at least four-fifths of it,” he said. “I’ve been working on it the last two weeks. It’s cost me a lot of money.”

Dale faces fines of $150 per day if he doesn’t comply and would have to pay the cost of having the property cleaned up by the town.

He claims he was unfairly targeted by the town after his business relationship with his neighbors, Wayne Gamage and Ralph McLaughlin, went sour.

“This town has all kinds of places with all kinds of stuff in their yard,” he said. “But the town functions on complaints.”

Fairfield Town Manager Josh Reny said that Dale’s property is being targeted because it is the most egregious offender in town.

It isn’t the first time that a community has forced Dale to clean up property he owned. The Hallowell City Council forced him to clean up debris in a yard after a four-year legal battle that ended in 2010.

Dale said the March court order for the Fairfield property was motivated by his neighbors’ financial interests.

“My neighbor is trying to drive me out of business,” he said.

Gamage denies that he and his partner, McLaughlin, are trying to drive Dale out of business.

“He can stay in business,” he said. “But he has to make it nice. You know, safe.”

When Dale first established his operation some three years ago, the two businesses formed a cooperative arrangement. Gamage and his staff would conduct transactions with customers for all of Dale’s items in exchange for a commission.

Dale and Gamage disagree on what led to the dissolution of the partnership, but they agree that the past two years have turned into a battle.

Today, a makeshift fence propped up by planks of wood separates the two properties.

Over the winter, Dale said, Gamage plowed snow into a right of way preventing customers from reaching Dale’s property. When the snow melted, Dale said, Gamage moved a large, white truck into the right-of-way to block access. A white truck was parked in the area Monday.

McLaughlin doesn’t deny that he and Gamage parked the truck to block entrance to Maine 201 Antiques.

But McLaughlin said it is retaliation for Dale keeping his property covered with junk, preventing the Fairfield Antique Mall owners from traveling over a right-of-way to reach a well on the opposite side of Dale’s property. Gamage says he has a property right to use the well.

“This used to be nice,” Gamage said. “Now look at it.”

Under the court-ordered agreement with the town, Dale has also agreed to fix seven fire code violations and comply with the town’s land-use ordinance, which requires that materials stored outdoors be raised off the ground and enclosed in containers.

Dale said that the long winter slowed down his efforts to clean the yard.

“I think I’ll be able to make it,” he said.

Gamage said he doesn’t think Dale will meet the court deadline.

“Of course not. Look at it,” he said. “He couldn’t do it with a crew of 10 men here for a week.”

Source: www.pressherald.com