WATERFORD — Fridays are still hopping in Waterford, just not as much as in the summertime. Although it’s best known for its seasonal bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables, the Owl Creek Produce Auction keeps plugging away all winter long by offering hay, baked goods and more.
A recent visit to the auction found crowds on the small side, thanks to cold and windy weather, but things never come to a halt at the auction. Up for bid were several truckloads and one Amish wagon load of hay, as well as baked goods, eggs, jam and some out-of-season fresh fruit obviously not from a local farm.
Ray Luzader, who lives between Bangs and Mount Liberty, was neither buying nor selling on this particular Friday. This morning he was assisting auctioneer Larry Moore.
“If I ain’t got anything to do, I come up,” said Luzader. “This time of year, anything to get out of the house.”
Moore led a crowd out to the pavilion’s west side loading dock to bid on the last load of hay.
“This is third-cutting hay,” Moore said, “Pretty good-looking stuff.”
He started the bidding at $4 per bale and used his fast patter to work the gathered bidders up to $6.50, only slightly higher than the current Ohio average price.
“Hay’s high this year,” Luzader said. “A lot of people didn’t get much cut.”
Not everything sold at the auction is food for animals or humans. The coming of spring will see sales of starter plants and seedlings, while Memorial Day sees lots of flowers up for bid. Shelley Peak from Mount Gilead was at the auction to sell a litter of puppies. Peak said that although her husband has sold some items at the auction in the past, it was her first visit.
Rebecca Wert and her husband frequently come to the auction from their home in Galion.
“We’re here buying,” she said.
Wert noted that the weather was keeping the crowd small, but that some Fridays in the winter are packed with people.
The auction is held on Waterford Road, just west of the Knox/Morrow County line, every Friday at 9 a.m. Wednesday sales will resume in May, and the auction will go three times per week in June. Call manager Kelly Brown for further information at 694-7140 or e-mail him at .
