Bontrager's Auction

A property deed from 1813 and signed by Joseph Ellicott was purchased at auction yesterday by the Holland Land Office Museum for $1,900.

The deed was acquired last year by Dale Vargason, from Wayland, who found it in a box of 18th century documents he acquired and then decided to bring it to Bontrager's Auctions.

Auctioneer Todd Jantzi started bidding off at $1,000 and when there were no initial bids, dropped it down to $800. Two people then jumped into the bidding, including Gary Harkness, representing HLOM, and the bids quickly rose to the $1,900 mark.

Previously: Rare historical document, a deed signed by Joseph Ellicott, to be featured in upcoming auction at Bontrager's

Bontrager Auction Center hosted its fifth old-fashioned barn dance and dinner last night with proceeds benefiting Genesee Cancer Assistance.

Top photo: Organizers Bob Stocking, Verna Oehler, Penny Arnold, Jackie Johnson and Julie Tybor.

About 150 people registered for yesterday's auction of foreclosed properties at Bontrager's on Wortendyke Road.

The county was owed about $310,000 in back taxes for the properties included in the auction. The properties sold for a total of $665,000. Those figures are preliminary, said County Treasurer Scott German.

The city also had a handful of properties up for auction, but those figures are not available at this time.

All of the properties auctioned were seized by either the county or city for failure to pay property taxes for a number of years.

We'll provide more details when they become available.

Bontrager's owner and auctioneer Todd Jantzi.

A successful bidder.

Bontrager's Third Annual Harvest Dinner Dance to benefit Genesee Cancer Assistance will be held on Saturday Sept. 24 at Bontrager's Auction Center, 8975 Wortendyke Road in the Town of Batavia.

Tickets are available the auction center or by calling Bob Stocking at 762.8585 or 409.8439.

Cost is $20 and includes a full dinner and music by the Ghost Riders. Dinner will be from 5 to 7 p.m. and dancing is from 7 to 10 p.m.

If you want to come for the dancing only, you can just show up at the door and pay $10.

A Gibson guitar that has been signed by Alan Jackson, Diamond Rio, Pam Tillis and other famous artists will be raffled off. The drawing will take place Saturday night.

No alcoholic beverages are allowed on the premises.

I attended a couple of auctions Thursday, one on Liberty Street conducted by Harris Wilcox out of Bergen Byron, and the other on East Main Street Road conducted by Bontrager out of Batavia.

Auctions are a fun place for photography, but the Liberty Street auction had a little extra photographic interest -- a box of four old cameras, with three of them in good working condition and no visible damage. At $25, I was the successful bidder.

The East Main Street auction was at a location on the other side of the road from Blondie's. It's most recently been a car dealership (though vacant for at least three years) and was once the State Police barracks in Batavia. Ah, if only I could have afforded the wood-hulled boat that went for a mere $1,100.

Both real estate properties were also sold.

Slide show of more photos below, and photographic prints from both events can be purchased by clicking here.

So tonight I drove out to the Wortendyke Road to the Bontrager Auction house -- not to take pictures (but you know, I always have my camera with me) but to bid on a set of 10 Don Carmichael prints.

If you've ever been in a local business and seen a pen-and-ink drawing of a local historic building, chances are, it's a Don Carmichael print. (Lorie Longhany has also done some wonderful drawings of local buildings).

I had my heart set on winning these at auction tonight, but it turns out it wasn't meant to be.

Still, the auction was great fun and I always enjoy taking pictures.

More pictures after the jump: