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tribune september 14 1988 c19 sales barn success spans 38 years by kate cilderdale without the sales barn stouff- 3lle would be like kitchener ithout oktoberfest its become part of the towns i ientity bringing visitors from f ir and wide and putting stouff- vjille firmly on the map coowner norm faulkners links with the facility go back 38 3 ears to when it first opened on 1 avo drive at the old curling i ink at that time the barn was own- d by walter atkinson norms i ither worked there and as a oungster he helped out when he wasnt busy with schoolwork in 1952 the operation moved to is current location and norm ontinued to work for mr atkin- i on clerking in the auction ring i listened to walter sell and a atched what went on he iemembers at the end of the i ight he noted that auctioneers c ould make 300 to 400 while he ould get 10 or 15 ook a course i thought to myself im on t le wrong end of this business 1 e said in 1958 he took an auctioneer- i lg course in mason city iowa i jturning to the sales barn at the t rid of the twoweek period i as always around good people i e said my dad helped me a lot jpid walter was almost like a se cond dad to me in 1961 norm landed a job at the ontario public stockyards in t oronto and alternated time bet ween there and the sales barn another recruit at the ontario tockyards was frank bennett ho also worked for walter atkinson at the barn in 1964 frank and i bought the sfeles barn from walter norm said adding that they had ojriginally agreed to buy it in 1962 at the time the pair had reed to wait two more years tlefore closing the deal when walter turned 60 he told us that if we still tanted it then he would let us 1 ave it at the same price c eclared norm when he turned 6 he kept his word and we kept c irs there was never any signed i greement it was all done with a 1 andshake for the next 21 years they worked together we never ex- changed a bad word i thought it was an excellent partnership norm said trust integral they took turns going to the ontario stockyards and both sold at the barn on saturdays norm recalls the time he wanted to build a house frank said if theres any extra money in the barn go ahead and use it ill get myvmoney later on once aain frank had demonstrated the closeness and trust that was anintegral part of the partnership- about 10 years ago when the government expropriated land for the illfated pickering airport plan the livestock business began to taper off since livestock was franks main interest he decided to sell his 50 per cent share in early 1983 norm clements bought out his share in dec 1981 mr clements and norm bought cam fella the horse who became a legend in racing circles one of his proudest moments was when cam fella blvd on westfield estates was named after his famous horse and mr clements proved to be another worthy friend of norms good friend hes been another really good friend he would give me the shirt off his back if i asked him he says during his 30year career as an lucky person auctioneer norm has worked at the royal winter fair and the cne i have sold everything from a pair of used rubber boots to a hotel in sault ste marie he states would do it says norm the response he notes wasnt overwhelming he estimates that between 15000 and 20000 people visit the barn every weekend with ven dors coming from as far east as montreal and as far west as london radio contest television commercials have been used to promote the sales barn in the last couple of years as well as newspaper adver tisements one of their most suc cessful promotions was a radio celebrity auction contest in the 1970s the possibility of a new building is being considered the demand for space is high and we cant satisfy it with what weve got here now norm ex plains auctions are still held regularly at the barn usually on thursday nights carrying on the family tradi tion is norms son philip 23 im proud that hes following in his dads footsteps norm declares philip who took his auctioneer ing course in 1982 sells cars fine art and thoroughbred and stan dard bred horses in his spare time he assists norm with his furniture auctions norms eldest daughter louise has just purchased greens restaurant in stouffville its a dream come true for her she has liked it since it first open ed he said person in every way grateful for im sure there are a lot of change with anyone my work his family and friends his part- good jobs out there he con- and my life have been very satis- nerships and his job eludes but i wouldnt want to fying to me the he also worked with gordon sellers walter atkinsons original partner when mr sellers died norm conducted the auction sale of his estate he owned a steam engine which i auctioned to markham museum one of his strangest auctions involved selling pet fish from a store the guy wanted to sell out and he phoned and asked if i younger daughter melisa at tends seneca college she helps in the restaurant here and she will help louise at the greens explains norm he considers himself a lucky dont stay home thursday sept 15 coime to the glass store for our fabulous fall sale t1daysonly j sept 15 thru sept 25 save at least 10 on everything save 20 on tempered tableware such as fleur aspen rosaline and the new octime noir many instore specials up to 50 off flower arrangements created by louise on sent 24 please cali for an appointment we register brides open m t w sat 10 6 thf sun i09 i5 134 robinson st 2nd light north of 7 of 48 markham ont 2946085 i dealer network wishes you a anniversay sale 20 years in markham 10 years in stouffville pop a balloon for your discount on any purchase 50 up to off y ili ewellers two locations to serve you 78 main st n 5 main st w markham stouffville 2944844 6404646 mm the celebmiion at 0011 mimm m dealers plus on selected speciallyequipped models get nocharge air nocharge automation m credit your ontario gm dealers chevrolet 0ldsm03ile cadillac pontiac buick chevy gmc trucks vekkxcsmayn0t8e exactiy as shown i hum iii imiflll ntiuii 0m m4 cc t wfm m 0 mw c- km wth rortirm m w omm cw mm wm m caw cm f m wc lii r bf fktvn m vh w i wm i m ti t onp mm wftmmd c ti see your participating gm dealer for full details ontarogmdtalersassociatoncol80letiiflro3dooomiis ontario m3b2t5 lltwn tmtmi im f w mw hw m wmp