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Gervais auction near Alida draws big crowds

It was an auction that drew people from across North America, and interest from overseas as well. Approximately 2,500 people attended the Gervais Family Farm Wheels Museum auction north of Alida on Saturday and Sunday.
Gervais Auction
A 1907 International Harvester Auto Buggy sold for $36,000 during the Gervais auction north of Alida. Photo submitted

It was an auction that drew people from across North America, and interest from overseas as well.

Approximately 2,500 people attended the Gervais Family Farm Wheels Museum auction north of Alida on Saturday and Sunday. The attendance figure doesn’t include the number of people who were bidding online.

An estimated 1,300 people registered for the auction, between those who were presented and those who bid online. Approximately 1,000 items were auctioned off, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The auction involved the collection of Alexandre Gervais, who died in 2013 at the age of 93. If Alexandre was still alive, Saturday would have been his 99th birthday.

Mack Auction Company was responsible for the sale.

“It’s not too often that you find a collection of that size, that’s been sitting in a time capsule … for 50 to 60 years, and haven’t moved,” said auctioneer Norm Mack. “A lot of these cars have been out of circulation.”

Therefore, it’s hard to find many of the vehicles that were sold.

“It’s probably one of the biggest car finds in Saskatchewan history … or possibly Canadian history. It’s just a big car find that excites people,” said Mack.

But it wasn’t just vehicles that drew people’s interest. Antique signs and licence plates, vehicle parts, models and agriculture implements were also sold.

The bulk of the classic vehicles were sold on Saturday, while the antiques and collectibles went on the auction block on Sunday.

Many of the items sold off will be shipped to England, Mack said.

It’s one of the biggest auctions he has ever handled, and it took more than a year of planning for the auction to happen.

This week’s edition of Southeast Lifestyles will have much more on this story.