NEWPORT - Ed Masminster of Delhi left Newport's annual auction of unclaimed items $102 poorer Friday but in possession of at least 20 old fire hydrants and a concrete garden gargoyle with a broken wing.

        Mr. Masminster was one of about 50 people who turned out to the Newport maintainance garage to bid on items ranging from a 1990 Cadillac Brougham to a 1979 Elgin street sweeper to 64 bicycles of various sizes and conditions. Most of the items were stolen property recovered by police but never claimed.

        Professional auctioneer Delbert Cox of Hamilton moved quickly through the items, and he spent only a few seconds on the 2-foot-high gargoyle with the broken left wing before bringing down the hammer on Mr. Masminster's $2 bid

Earl Gross looks over a computer monitor, one of many items available at the Newport auction Friday. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        “I'll take it home and repair it and put it in my garden,” the Delhi resident explained. “I've fixed other small garden statues like that.”

        When the group moved outside the building to look at a pile of fire hydrants mixed with pieces of water pipe, there once again was just one bid. Mr. Masminster bought the lot for $100.

        “It's crazy, isn't it?” he said with a laugh. “I'll take a couple of them home right away and clean them up. I'll have to come back for the others. They said there are at least 20 (hydrants) in there.” He said the hydrants, when cleaned and repainted, make good yard or garden decorations.

        Carole Schmerge of Erlanger found herself the owner of a well-used wheelchair in need of some parts after making the only bid of $1.

        “I don't know what I'll do with it,” she admitted. “I thought someone else would make another bid for maybe $2.”

        Prices for bicycles ranged from $1-$2 all the way up to $40 for a mountain bike considered worth about $400 when new. In some cases bidders took home three or four bikes for $5.

        The automobiles were bargains, if the new owners don't encounter any major repairs. Prices never reached $1,000, but most of the vehicles had high mileage.

        The 1990 Cadillac went for $900; a 1988 Chevrolet Caprice sold for $400; a 1992 GEO Metro sold for $625; a 1988 Mercury Grand Marquis sold for $550; a 1985 Nissan Maxima, the only vehicle that refused to start, sold for $300; a 1990 Ford Probe sold for $775; a 1989 Ford Festiva sold for $700; a 1993 Ford Astro van with a wrecked left front fender sold for $500.

        The street sweeper, taken out of service when the city purchased a new one last year, didn't draw a bid. City Clerk Frank Peluso said the city administration will have to decide what to do now with the huge old “white elephant.”
       

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