Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008

Noll's new auction house to make debut

by Kenneth Lassiter

When Brad Noll was younger, there were two occupations he said he really wanted to take part in – an auctioneer and a fireman or paramedic. He’s been able to do both.

Noll, a Winchester native, bought the former grocery store in Nortonville in January and has spent the last six months turning it into an auction house for Noll Auction Services, which he runs with the help of his family and friends. The site’s first auction will take place at 7 p.m. June 25 and auctions are planned for every other Wednesday night starting at 7 p.m.

Noll, who lives in rural Winchester with his wife, Cristin, and their two sons, Tyler, 17, and Chris, 15, said he and his wife had originally looked into buying the former grocery store in the early 2000s after it closed but the price was too high, so they backed off. Noll was in town in December and noticed the store was still for sale so checked back into it and found the price more to his liking.

“We looked at a lot of places,” Noll said. He is the son of the late Lloyd and Norma Noll and is a 1989 graduate of Jefferson County North High School. He received his formal auctioneer training at Nashville Auctioneer School in Tennessee and has been an auctioneer for seven years. “I think there’s a need here. There hasn’t been one in the area since Bud Showalter closed his (in Leavenworth County).”

Noll began wanting to be an auctioneer while in grade school after longtime local auctioneer Eldon Farris taught him some chanting to help him learn times tables in grade school. His other interest – emergency services – led him to become a paramedic in Leavenworth County but back problems have put him on what he calls “injured reserve” after a recent back surgery. He said he also volunteers with the Alexandria Township Fire Department in Leavenworth County, as he lives on the county line between Leavenworth and Jefferson counties.

The Nolls got possession of the building in January and got to work on extensive remodeling with the help of partner Spencer McCabe and friend Rick Boyett as well as Noll’s two sons and wife. Noll said every day off was spent working at the site to put in a couple offices plus make a grandstand-style area for auctioneering. The business has built up a cache of more than 800 items that will be sold at the auctions. Noll said the first auction will likely be a 2 1/2 to 3 hour event.

“We basically cleaned it all out and made some more open space,” Noll said. A new heating and cooling system was also added along with new wiring. “We like things like antiques and furniture, collectibles and tools. Every day off we had we came here. We ended up filling a big dumpster. The hardest part was in the wintertime before we had the heating system in and had no heat. We ended up buying a big space heater.”

Noll said Farris died before he had a chance to work with the man Noll termed one of his “biggest heroes” but his career has led him to work with the aforementioned Showalter as well as county auctioneer Andy Conser, who Noll referred to as “one of the best auctioneers in the area.” Noll said people in the area had been talking to him about opening an auction house somewhere and he said feedback has been favorable. The business also has its own website at www.nollauctions.com.

“I can’t tell you how great the feedback has been,” Noll said. “It’s really been tremendous – extremely positive. The city officials here have been great to work with. The thing I like about it is that you can draw people from Holton, Atchison, Topeka and Leavenworth plus the local towns and Easton and Effingham.”

The auctions will also include concessions, although Noll said he is keeping it simple to candy and soft drinks, coffee and tea so as not to cut into the business of Bootleggers Bar and Grill down the street.

He said he planned to work with Bootleggers on auction nights.

“I always wanted to be a fireman and paramedic and I got to do that for a while, but now with my back problems I’ve been able to focus more on this,” Noll said.

He also noted the help of his sister, Renie Stephan, and her husband, Mike, in getting the place ready for business.

“I’m very happy with what we’ve received so far (to sell). We are still taking consignments but I’ve stopped advertising it for now because we’ve already got so much.”