DANVILLE — There was furniture galore and more. There were quilts and crafts, new and used hand tools and an assortment of previously owned household items all available for the right bid.
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This was the 15th Annual Pine View School Benefit Auction, held Saturday at the Danville Auction Barn east of Danville.
This once-a-year event raises funds for five parochial Amish schools in eastern Knox County.
There were hundreds of handcrafted pieces of furniture on the auction block of various sorts. There were cabinets, trunks, chairs and tables of all shapes and sizes.
In the quilt department there were several hundred quilts, again all hand made with what seemed to be an infinite variety of designs. The quilts probably attract as many people or more than the furniture.
Auctioneer John “Red” Shaw was working his 15th auction having done each of the previous 14.
“This is a school benefit for the Amish,” he said. “And I sold the first one 14 years ago. They use it to benefit the schools. They always have a lot of nice things to sell. And they draw a tremendous crowd.”
The crowd is more than just local folks. People come from all over the state to bid or even just watch.
“We were here last year,” said Ken Weber who was at the auction with is wife, Jean. “We had a good time. We didn’t buy anything but we had a good time. It’s nice to see it and we really enjoy being here. There’s some beautiful furniture in there. Not quite as much as last year but it’s really nice. It’s a great thing that they do this. They get the community together and put this on for the schools. Oh, and the pretzels are great.”
The Webers are from Cleveland and have a summer home in Loudonville.
Vanessa Reineke from Brighton, Mich., was attending her first auction which she heard about from several friends.
“I’m here for the auction,” she said. “I have my buyer’s number already. The quilts are magnificent. The craftsmanship is truly unbelievable. It’s everything everybody has told me it is.”
Edna Harry of Mansfield was attending the auction with her grandson, Billy Harry. They were busy looking over some stamps and coins among other things.
“Yes, I think we will buy something here today,” she said. “Last year I bought a quilt and it was fantastic. I’m here with my grandson and this is something we like to do; go to auctions. This is one of the best.”
Next year’s auction will be Aug. 6 at the Danville Auction Barn.
