Bruce MacCormack, introduced our speaker, Pat Grant, who is a Rotarian as well as a professional Auctioneer. Bruce said that Pat is a fast talker, extroverted, well-spoken and fun.
This program was both hilarious and compelling.
Pat asked us to think back on some event which changed our lives. The event which changed his life, from a chaplain to an auctioneer, was the Liam Neeson movie "Taken" about child trafficking. It made a deep impression on him. Shortly afterwards he was asked to fill in as an auctioneer and he refused until he was told that the proceeds were to go to preventing this truly evil business. So agreed and his life changed.
He went to the best auctioneer's college in the country, in Billings, Montana, where he felt like he was the only "Indian" amongst the "cowboys" - the Billy Bob's, Billy Joe's etc., all there to learn the livestock auction trade. So what did he learn? You just should have heard Pat do this: "Betty Botter bought some butter but, said she, the butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter will make my bitter batter better. So she bought some better butter, better than the bitter butter, put it in her bitter batter, made her bitter batter better. So'twas better Betty Botter bought some better butter."
There are four kinds of auctions: Auto, Livestock, Estate sales, and Event sales where the proceeds go to charity. This last was his goal but he had to work his way up, first working Estate sales, which consist of opening boxes from attics right in front of the buyers, beginning with $2.50 or less per item - an old book, old linens, old, used dish ware. Sometimes he would go through 300 items to raise $25.00. But he persevered until he made Ringman, then got his first Event chance in Seattle. He never looked back and now owns his own business.
It is uplifting work. Every week-end he gets to see the best of humanity, all these groups giving to others they have never even met, and it gives him back his faith in this world. He has written a short book about auctioneering, called "Sold".
He ended his talk by doing his job:
First he asked our President to name a charity. Chuck suggested Polio Plus. Then Pat asked how much time he had left. Nine minutes. In that time he got us to donate the following 7 items from these generous Rotarians:
- A plane ride for two donated by Doug Cole (after Doug has completed five familiarization flights).
- A wine maker dinner for six donated by David Blair, on his boat
- Two tickets for the upcoming Patti LuPone show at Mount Baker Theater donated by Brad Burdick
- Will preparation for two donated by Dominique Zervas of Zervas Law PS
- Three sessions of personal training at Bellingham Athletic Club donated by Cathy Buckley
- Three Ukulele lessons donated by Brian Griffin
- A boat cruise in a 1938 open Chris Craft launch on Lake Union with champagne followed by dinner at Ivar’s Seafood Restaurant donated by Lisa Saar
Pat explained he would auction them all as one package: first we needed to get in shape, learn a new skill, eat and drink and be entertained, then get our wills made, then, last, we would be set for the plane ride in Doug's rebuilt, by himself, fixer-upper plane. The bidding was intense, ending with two ferocious bidders going against each other: Lynda Hinton and Jim Vos. Jim had the winning bid with $2,100, which will, of course, be donated to Polio Plus.
A grand time was had by all of us.
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