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Creston Auction & Country Fair Celebrates 44th Year

By Beacon Staff

Beginning April 10, one of the smallest communities in the state hosts one of Montana’s largest events, when the 44th Creston Auction & Country Fair kicks off. As many as 7,000 people from all over Montana, surrounding states and Canada descend on this tiny agricultural community 12 miles east of Kalispell for a weekend-long celebration of stuff. All commissions and proceeds from the event go to the Creston Fire Department.

“The auction itself is an event unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Julie Laing, one of the auction’s organizers, said. “At first glance, it’s just overwhelming.”

The Creston school grounds opens at 8 a.m. Saturday and the auction begins at 9 a.m. Four auctioneers stand on wagons in front of numerous, enormous rows of goods featuring building materials, appliances, household merchandise, sports equipment, tools, tack and antiques.

Consignment begins on Friday, April 9, when volunteers will collect and organize items dropped off from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Creston Fire Department receives 25 percent of the proceeds from consigned items, but the organizers also ask those selling merchandise to consider donating an item entirely to the Fire Department for the sale. Donations are tax deductible.

Then the action begins the following day, as the auctioneers standing on wagons are pulled down the rows of stuff as they sell it to the highest bidder until it’s all gone. There is no buyer’s premium and a bid number costs $5.

The wide-open, free-for-all nature of the event, according to Laing, makes it less intimidating than more traditional auctions.

“It’s actually a great place to experience a first auction,” Laing said. “There isn’t the pressure and formality that you get at other auctions.”

As well as the auction, Saturday features an arts and crafts sale at the Eastside Grange Hall, and a rummage and bake sale at the Creston School Gym. Donated items for the rummage and bake sales are always welcome, and hot food and desserts will be available all day.

On Sunday, the big ticket items go up for bid: Cars, trucks, boats, recreational vehicles, farm equipment trailers and other large merchandise all auctioned off. That auction begins at 9 a.m. with $10 bid tickets.

In her five years volunteering for the auction, Laing has seen all kinds of merchandise passing through, from an Amish-built gazebo to a flatbed full of antlers to a pile of antique wooden water skis. Last year’s auction raised $28,000, though Laing said that was a relatively light year for the auction, which usually raises $30,000.

Creston Fire Chief Gary Mahugh was born and raised in Creston and has attended the auction every single year. As a child, his father served on the Fire Department, and in the years since, Mahugh has observed the size of the Creston Auction grow even as it retains its stature as the community’s main social event of the year.

“It’s a tradition that has caught on,” Mahugh said. “This is more than a fundraiser; it’s an experience.”

The Fire Department relies on the proceeds from the auction to maintain its operations in a way that would not be possible were it to rely on the tax dollars it is allocated, Mahugh said. He points to the training center built at the Lake Blaine station as being funded largely by the auction.

“The auction has allowed us to upgrade our safety equipment, upgrade a certain amount of our apparatus and upgrade our training,” Mahugh added.

The Creston Auction requires roughly 200 volunteers and a high amount of planning to pull off, but Laing and Mahugh believe those donating, as well as those volunteering, see it as an investment in their quiet, rural part of the valley.

“This is a big deal,” he said. “It is a true community outpouring of help that makes this work.”

For more information call 406-250-7396 or visit www.crestonfire.org.