Good turnout for police auction

The bursts of heavy rain last Thursday evening didn’t deter people from coming out to the OPP’s annual police auction.
About 80 people showed up to place their bids on several large desks, an axe, a jerry can, and some swan-shaped plant holders. But the biggest draw was the 60 bicycles of various sizes, styles, and colours up for grabs.
Lindsey Noble, nine, waited patiently with her dad until the bike she had her eye on—a blue Huffy with white tires and a bright pink seat and handle grips—came on the auction block.
After a minute of counter-bidding, she got the bike for $40.
Andrew Spelman put in one of the highest bids of the night, paying $134 for a blue Dyno stunt bike. But the 15-year-old was very happy with his purchase.
“It’s worth about $200,” he noted.
Auctioneer Rod Salchert did his best to get at least a $1 bid for each item, although he didn’t always succeed. No one was interested, for example, in a three-legged desk.
Barb Harris, administrative assistant at the Fort Frances OPP office, said the turnout for the auction this year was good.
“We always try to have it this time of year before people have to go out and buy bikes,” she said.
While the items up for bid all were recovered by police during the past year, Harris stressed every effort is made to find the owners before the auction.
In the case of the bikes, “we try to find the owner through the serial numbers, or check for a match from reports of stolen bikes,” Harris said.
The auction raised $1,876, which will go to the town.