Letting go of the past

Todd Crill has been around auctions all his life. He remembers going to the weekly Adams county livestock auctions with his dad, Wayne Crill, as a child.

Crill has been an auctioneer for 10 years, the last four as an independent auctioneer under the name Todd Crill Auctions. Now Crill and his family are opening an auction building, 1447 Cromwell Road.

“We needed a place for trailers and trucks,” said Crill.

Crill said anytime the lights are on or the doors are open, the public is welcome to come and take a look.

The grand opening and Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting will be at 10 a.m. Friday, and they will hold the Marvin Hardisty estate auction 10 a.m. Saturday.

Crill said the best place to hold an auction is on the site, but sometimes that isn’t possible due to space or parking issues. Now he is able to offer an alternative.

A tour of Todd Crill Auctions includes the large main building, where many of the items for the next auction are housed, and several trailers which can be used to store more items. In good weather, Crill sells directly from the backs of the trailers.

The tour wouldn’t be complete without a peek inside Crill’s mobile office. Although the computers and other tech are not stored there, the office trailer can be set up to be the command post of the auction.

Inside the auction house, outside at an auction site, or where ever the auctioneer is currently selling from, a clerk with a laptop records all of the sales. Crill brings his own Wi-Fi hot spot to auctions so that the mobile office immediately has a record of the sale. It also enables Crill to provide a detailed report of all the items sold.

Bringing the internet to auctions also allows Crill to accept live bids online through Proxibid. The Hardisty estate auction currently has 25 items listed for bids online. During the live auction, customers will be able to bid on the items from the comfort of their home, where ever that may be.

The auction company’s relationship with Proxibid allows Crill to publicize auctions all over the world. Crill said he has even shipped industrial machinery as far as Mexico.

When asked why he became an auctioneer, Crill joked, “I like to hear myself talk.”

He went on to say that auctions are social events which are different from going to church or a ball game. He said he sees every auction, large or small, as important.

Often auctions are a means of closure for those who have lost a loved one, Crill said. For estate sales, family and friends tend to gather from near and far, stories are told, and the past is remembered and let go of through the items being sold.