|
Missing Children's Network fundraiser
at Val des Lacs
Golf Club
Gary with Donald K. Donald
Gary with hockey superstar Guy Lafleur
Gary with hockey legend Rejean Houle
and photographer extraordinaire John Zimmerman
Back to top
CHOM's Rock and Sports Auction a great success!
The
Annual CHOM Rock and Sports Auction, was held last night
at the Hard Rock Cafe on Crescent St. Up for bids were
Hockey, F1, Rock items and tons more... Over 55,000$ was
raised with all proceeds going to the CHOM Spirit
Fund and to buy holiday toys for needy Montreal kids.
Gary
with Skip Snair and Terry DiMonte from CHOM
Back to top
Gary Peterson elected president!
(Pointe Claire, Quebec, Canada, November 4, 2004)
 Gary Peterson is both pleased and honoured to have
been elected President of the Auctioneers Association
of Canada at their recent convention which was held
at the Holiday Inn, Pointe Claire, Quebec . Gary
will serve as President for a two year term. The Association
is a driving force in governing ethics and professionalism
in the Canadian auction industry.
From Oct. 28th to 30th Montreal , Quebec played host
to the 24th Annual Convention of the Auctioneers Association
of Canada, and the All Round World Champion Auction
competition.
Consisting of 3 days of workshops, seminars, the AA
of C Annual General Meeting and some “fun” events,
the convention was attended by delegates from across
the country.
It wasn't all work though, with fun and benefit events
put on for both the participants and the public. Preceding
the auction competition on Saturday, October 30th,
the AA of C conducted an “antiques road show” appraisal/evaluation
event, with dozens of the general public lined up in
advance for a chance to get an appraisal of their favourite
antiques and collectibles.
The auction competition, a charity auction, was the
highlight event. This event was open to the public,
who had the opportunity to bid on a wide range of items
generously donated by merchants and organizations across
the country. The competition was co-sponsored
by CJAD Radio, with 50% of the auction and the antiques
road show proceeds going to benefit their KIDS FUND,
which supports Children's Hospitals in the Montreal
area as well as underprivileged children and the Welcome
Home program.
Gary has over 25 years of experience in the auction
industry and holds the designations of CAI (Certified
Auctioneers Institute) and ICCA (Institute of Certified
Canadian Auctioneers), joining a group of Auctioneers
numbering only 70+ across Canada. While President of
the Auctioneers Association of Canada, Gary is also
a member of the National Auctioneers Association and
the Auctioneers Association of Ontario.
Gary has been instrumental in helping various associations
and charities, such as the “Just For Kids” Foundation
and the “Missing Children's Network”, raise hundreds
of thousands of dollars and supports the CJAD “Kids
Fund” at their yearly auctions.
Back to top
Gary
Peterson Can Now Add “TV Star” to
his Resume
The quaint community of Hudson, Quebec, near Montreal,
is still abuzz after the visit of a television crew
which came to town in June to film Gary Peterson, CAI,
ICCA, local resident and auctioneer, for a new television
program entitled The Antique Hunter which will air this
fall on Global TV.
 Peterson,
who owns and runs Hudson Auctions, has been in the business
for over 25 years. A member of the Canadian Auctioneer’s
Institute, he was also President of the Auctioneer’s
Association of Canada between 1989 and 1991. “We
were chosen by Global because our last auction included
a large collection of breweriana, as the art of collecting
everything and anything related to beer and beer-making
is known in the business,” says Peterson. Anything
from beer advertising signs to steins, pumps and coasters
were on display. The television crew filmed for approximately
four hours, including almost the whole auction and several
interviews. A whole host of other items were also up
on the block, including furniture, lamps, porcelain,
silverware and miscellaneous collectibles.
Peterson stresses the importance of research and documentation,
and he relies on trade publications to keep up on the
latest trends and vagaries of the markets, but his 25
years of experience go a long way in helping him bring
the best results for his clients.
Back to top
National Auctioneer’s Convention
To further expand his business knowledge and to gain
access to more services to offer customers, Gary has
recently attended the National Auctioneers Association’s
54th International Auctioneers Conference in San Antonio,
Texas. It was a very busy week filled with more than
60 informative seminars and presentations geared to
help us improve yet further our assistance to you. As
we have already added real estate auctions to our available
services, we will be offering fund raising assistance
in the near future as well. If you have, or are part
of an organization wanting to raise funds to benefit
your membership or benefactors, we can help you find
the best course of action to take.
Back to top
Portraits Near Here
GARY PETERSON – auctioneer, Hudson. With gavel in
hand for the past eighteen years, Peterson has appraised
and auctioned items ranging from estates to industrial
contents and focuses now mainly on antiques. “Pine
cabinets are popular today as well as Moorcroft pottery
vases, Hummel and Royal Doulton figurines and art glass,” he
said on the multitude of items that pass through his
premises. “Once I auctioned coffins from a bankrupt
coffin maker and 250 pairs of salt and pepper shakers
from one woman's personal collection.” And why do auctioneers
speak fast when auctioning items? “It's like a chant
to build the momentum, entice bids and keep the fast
pace and fever of auctioning going,” he said in a calm
voice.
Photo and text by David Inglis – The Chronicle
Wednesday, May 31, 2000
Back to top
Old Cars Head for Parts Unknown
 The bidding went fast and heavy for a '66 Chevy Saturday
- $700 worth of old Chevy that might never see the
streets again. How the car looked didn't matter; it
was the parts that could be used for restoration that
the bidders were after.
Dave Kemp of Great Falls said most of the vehicles
offered for sale Saturday at Parrie's Auto Parts on
Black Eagle Road were not in restorable condition. “When
I see cars in this condition I see parts,” he said.
A crowd of about 300 people followed as a pickup-mounted
auctioneer, Gary Peterson, was driven slowly between
the lines of vehicles, at least one of which was on
the road before the Great Depression, a 1929 Chevy.
The cars were collected over a period of 30 years
by Henry James Parrie. He died a year and a half ago
and his wife, Thelma Parrie, decided to sell the collection
to settle her husband's estate.
Parrie said her late husband was fascinated by old
cars. She views antique autos as part of American history.
Bill Doles Jr., a Great Falls boilermaker, bought
a 1960 Thunderbird for $700 and was keeping his eye
on a couple of other vehicles. There were cars offered
for sale that ceased to be household words many years
ago. Like the Henry J. and the Edsel and the Hudson.
--Woody Kipp (Great Falls
Tribune, Great Falls, Montana, 07/19/1992 )
Back to top
Owners Rejoice as Auction Clears
Home
Having stacked up years of bargains, Betty and John
Wolfe realized they had a daunting domestic inventory
to liquidate after they sold their Hudson home. So
what did they do? They held an auction. But the Wolfes,
who raised a pair of sons during 24 happy years in
Hudson, had a lot of what makes a home a home: stuff.
And the owners of a new model furnished villa in Florida
didn't want to hear about that stuff. Not before and
especially not after their upcoming move.
“Yes, we're going south,” Betty Wolfe told the Times
last week. “And we had 25 years of accumulated belongings – from
furniture to china – which we couldn't take with us.
There was just too much. It wouldn't have been possible.
The couple discussed how to empty their home without
moving heaven and earth, without sacrificing potential
value, and without contending with trillions of hassles.
So why didn't they hold a garage sale? Betty counted
the reasons.
“You get very little for your things, it's a lot of
work, and you end up with a lot of stuff left over.” It's
clear, she added, an auction “is the way to go.”
She first approached her husband about the possibility
of an auction after she had a conversation with a Hudson-based
auctioneer. It was Gary Peterson who explained why
the gavel was the way to go.
As their arranged auction date – Sept. 19 – approached,
Peterson arrived at the Wolfe residence with his team
of experts to provide an estimate of what the Wolfes
could reasonably expect to earn from a sale.
“He was right on the mark,” John said. “He was really
extremely close.” He said speaking to Peterson several
times before the auction also helped allay some apprehension.
The pre-auction process was likewise well-organized,
John added, and Peterson came back with his team to
number the items and arrange lots prior to bidding.
“We were more than impressed,” John said. “Here's
someone who knew what he was doing.” Peterson was “professional,
businesslike, and he worked very hard,” Betty added.
And the sale was over in just one Saturday.
The auction process itself was interesting, said Betty.
Sometimes, she conceded, individual items sold for
less than anticipated. But shortfalls were more than
made up for with surprisingly high prices on relatively
minor items. “It seems to balance out,” she said gladly.
“What we thought would get more dollars, like our
oak furniture, sold for less than we thought,” John
piped in. “But other things we attributed less value
with got more than expected. The net result really
is best. The people who bought low got a bargain, and
we got everything out of the house in two days.”
He even sold his car, a reasonably late-model Lincoln
Continental. That saved John the trouble and expense
of placing an ad, meeting possible buyers, and all
the miscellaneous hassles connected with selling a
vehicle. “It's a considerable weight off our shoulders,” he
said.
As well, the former employee of a chemical company
said, a surprisingly high bid was offered for his 100-year-old
chemical balance, a sort of scientific scale. He also
fetched more than expected for a pair of paintings.
And John was impressed with the auctioneer's “bid-side” manner. “All
in all, he handled himself most professionally,” John
said. “He really controlled the auction. I would recommend
him.”
--John David Gravenor (Hudson/St. Lazare Times, 10/01/1999)
Back to top
Worldwide Interest Brewing
Contents of former Molson plant to
be auctioned off
MONTREAL – Ryszard Milan, a businessman from Poland,
has come to Montreal to do some shopping. But the expedition – both
in terms of the items he wants and where he hopes to
purchase them – is a bit unorthodox. He's not looking
at souvenirs from downtown malls.
As part-owner of several small breweries in the Silesia
region of southwest Poland, he's on the lookout for
modern Western beer equipment to upgrade and expand
his business.
And he will be able to choose from a whole array of
goods when the entire contents of the Carling O'Keefe-Molson
brewery, in Montreal's industrial district on the edge
of downtown, are auctioned off Sept. 11 and 12.
The liquidation of the facility, the brewery and bottling
plant formerly owned by Carling O'Keefe Breweries of
Canada Ltd., is the result of the merger of the plant
with Molson Brewing Cos. of Canada Ltd. in 1989 that
created Molson Breweries.
When the O'Keefe operation, which dates back to the
1930s, came under the Molson wing, the company's production
capacity in Montreal was doubled, prompting its owners
to close the O'Keefe facility last spring. It now sits,
dark and still, the only testament to its former activity
a few mounds of beer caps here and there and the faint,
musty smell of beer.
The landmark Molson brewery in the city's east end,
which dates back to 1786, continues to operate.
News of the liquidation is attracting interest from
around the world – Mexico, Indonesia, Vietnam, various
eastern European countries intent on modernizing their
economies, even Saudi Arabia says George Gal, spokesman
for Goldsmith & Peterson of Montreal, which is
handling the sale. (He points out that the representatives
from Saudi Arabia, which bans alcohol, are interested
in equipment for a juice operation).
He says there has also been interest from big U.S.
breweries and beverage companies such as Anheuser-Busch
Cos. Inc. of St. Louis, Aldolph Coors Co. of Golden,
Col., Coca-Cola Co. of Atlanta and PepsiCo Inc. of
Purchase, N.Y.
The sale will be no easy task, says liquidator Gary
Peterson. While equipment such as typewriters and furniture
from the executive offices will be sold, many items
are huge. If they aren't sold they will be dismantled
and sold as scrap metal, he says.
Among the items on the block: 126 fermentation tanks,
each capable of holding 310,000 litres of liquid and
made of 15 tons of stainless steel; bottling and canning
lines that in their day spat out 1,600 cans a minute;
bottle washers that look like oversized honeycombs;
and 300 storage tanks.
But the task will likely prove lucrative for the liquidator,
which hopes to recoup at least 60 per cent of the total
value of the plant. Mr. Peterson estimates it would
cost between $100-million and $150-million to set up
again. He says $1-million alone will come from the
sale of scrap metal.
Once the plant's contents are sold, the building will
then go on the block. It is a potentially lucrative
piece of real estate because of its proximity to the
future site of the proposed Montreal Forum.
--Ann Gibbon (The Globe and
Mail, 09/02/1991)
Back to top
Missing Children's Network
Gary with Kirk Muller and Patrick Roy of the Montreal
Canadiens (at the time), holding up Patrick's hockey
jersey while Gary auctioned it off for a benefit to
raise money for The Missing Children's Network. Many
of the Canadiens teammates were present and honoured
the crowd with a fashion show as well.
Certificate presented to Gary for Humanitarian Contribution
from The Missing Children's Network.
Back to top
Atlantic Salmon Federation
(benefit auction held at the Chateau Champlain, Montreal)
Gary with Maurice 'Rocket' Richard and Serge Savard.
Gary is sporting his newly acquired autographed Montreal
Canadiens jacket.
Gary auctioning Serge Savard's hockey jersey.
Serge commending Gary on his accomplishment
and expressing how flattered he felt in light of the
price that the jersey brought.
Another benefit auction for the Atlantic Salmon Federation.
The auction and BBQ dinner were held right on the baseball
field of the Olympic Stadium in Montreal after an Expos
home game. Gary with then Expos Manager Felipe Alou
who was kind enough to stay awhile after the game to
chat.
Atlantic Salmon Federation Certificate of Appreciation
presented to Gary in recognition of his contribution.
Back to top
"Just For Kids" Foundation
Certificate of acknowledgment from
the "Just for Kids" Foundation presented to Gary for
his participation in the auction to raise money for
medical equipment at the Montreal Children's Hospital.
Plaque recognizing Gary for his support
and dedication to The "Just For Kids" Foundation.
Back to top
|
