Dean and Mickey Perala are getting ready to conduct an auction for an auctioneer. The estate sale of Russell and Helen Lepisto is scheduled for this Saturday, beginning at 10:01 a.m., 306 W Gilman in New York Mills.
Russ, a longtime area businessman and auctioneer, passed away last summer. Since August, the Lepisto family has been uncovering 50+ years of Russ' collections of "auction treasures."
Col. Russell Lepisto made buying and selling his business and his hobby. He graduated from the Reisch School of Auctioneering in 1940, and was known initially for his farm auctions in the New York Mills and Leaf Lakes/Henning areas. He also conducted family, antique, and estate auctions. His sales were clerked by local banks, often the banks of New York Mills and Henning.
Russ' sister, Winnie Porkkonen of New York Mills, remembered the lunches. "In the early days, local Ladies Aid groups would prepare lunch items in the farmhouse kitchens, and would serve homemade lunches and baked goods through the kitchen windows."
Russ' six daughters and son recall attending their dad's sales as they were growing up, and helping out by distributing auction bills and by carrying lemonade to the auctioneer.
ADVERTISEMENT
Col. Dean Perala and Col. Mickey Perala, who have owned and operated Perala Bros Auctioneers for 21 years, also recall growing up at auctions. "Our dad was a ringman at local auction barns. He bought and sold machinery and antiques, so we literally grew up at auctions, traveling long distances, even to South Dakota to attend sales."
Both brothers remember attending Russ' auctions, and being fascinated from the beginning. Dean said, "The chant...I was just amazed with what auctioneers could do!. I wanted to know how to do it too."
Dean attended World Wide College of Auctioneering, and graduated in 1986. "It's our honor to be doing this sale for a member of the earlier generation of auctioneers. We were inspired by those guys, and now we are carrying on this tradition. Russ was an auctioneer legend in this area."
With the massive amount of property to sell at the Lepisto estate sale, the Perala brothers anticipate the need to sell from two simultaneous rings for a good share of the sale day. The estate property includes vintage fishing tackle, antique tools, antique household items, guns, a large assortment of power and shop tools, Lund fishing boat, pickup, two lawn tractors, spearing house, 4-wheeler, washer and dryer, Roseville pottery, glassware, stoneware, office equipment, children's furniture, toys and games, appliances, furniture, and a massive collection of household and small appliances, to mention only a fraction of the legendary auctioneer's "treasures."
As one of Russ' daughters put it, "Whatever you need, Dad probably had a dozen of them!"
(Loretta Norgon is a daughter of the late Russell Lepisto.)
