Loving Hard & Working Hard

I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Mrs. Ona Van Dorn. She is the client associated with the Estate Liquidation we are holding in George West, TX. When given the opportunity, I LOVE to tell the stories of the people associated with our estates.

Liquidating estates is like sharing someone's personal collection of LOVED things with anyone who can & WILL appreciate them.

I have to say that it is MY HONOR to share in the story of Mrs. Ona Van Dorn! This 96 year-old cowgirl & entrepreneur has a TREMENDOUS life. It's hard to not get emotional remembering the interview & just learning HOW MANY people that have been blessed by her life & are still being BLESSED by it!

It's one of those blogs where I will do my best to share ALL of my thoughts & feelings, but her life is JUST SO BIG....I don't think it can be captured in these words....but I'll give it my best shot.

The interview started out going back to about 1960, starting with the story of how & why they started the South Texas Trail Ride, which starts in the Corpus Christi area & ends at the AT&T Center in San Antonio coinciding with the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. At the time, her & her then-husband Big Jim Wright owned the Motts Steakhouse in Corpus Christi - which garnered diners of the likes of Roy Rodgers & Johnny Cash.

Pictured with Johnny Cash.

Sitting there at The Motts, with their friends Fay & Pete Sample they came up with the idea to have a trail ride start in Corpus & end at the San Antonio Livestock Show & Rodeo. I knew this story was going to get good when she said: "Everyone told us it was impossible." Mrs. Ona goes on to say that the Stock Show was approaching & they needed to get approval, BUT before that - had to make sure that they would have people in support of this ride & willing to work with them.  They set out and made a trip on the route they had planned to take & made stops talking to certain individuals that would serve as key players to help push this vision along. First of all, it AMAZED me that she remembered SO MANY details of, not just this part of the planning, but EVERYTHING!! What seemed to be the key shot of encouragement to keep moving forward with the trail ride is when Mr. Perry Callison said to her: "All of South Texas is my business & I think it is a good thing!" Hearing her say it, it seemed like it was just the right dose of encouragement that was needed to carry on towards the goal. Needless to say, A ride that started with a small group of around 30 or so riders grEW to where, at its peak, had 1500+ riders! She remembered all kinds of details like...recalling a goal to have 50 horse-drawn buggies on the ride for their 50th Anniversary Year & only getting 49. She chuckled about it :). I just love the tenacity...of being told it's impossible & going after it anyway...of talking to the RIGHT people to encourage & push it along...of witnessing the passion & hearing about the work put in to do it....& of the absolutely incredible life journey this ride took her & many others on. She recalled one year cooking for all the riders with water up to her knees! Back then, we aren't talking about a trail-ride with heated trailers & living compartments. We are talking...sleeping in tents, beds of pick-up trucks & on the ground, riding in whatever weather was on the trail... We have the first horse trailer camper that ever went on the ride in the auction on December 10th! Just to give you an idea of how much Mrs. Ona LOVES this ride....she has gone on the ride EVERY YEAR! The last time she rode was 8 years ago! Since then, she's ridden on the wagon :). If anyone gets the chance to visit with her about it...ask her about the year she rode sidesaddle the WHOLE way & the clothes she made for that ride! On average riders ride 35 miles a day.

Mrs. Ona in her hand-made duds - ridin' side saddle. 

Mrs. Ona in the hat!

Check out the growth of that vision!

If you think that was an awesome story...just wait!

I had also heard about her entreprenuel spirit. There is really no tellin' how many businesses Mrs. Ona has owned or have been a part of. She couldn't recall all of them & after meeting with her we've learned about more :). One theme that seemed to be pretty consistent (with a few exceptions) was restuarants & feeding people. I asked her why restaurants? Mrs. Ona looked square at me & said: "Everything I've done was done for a reason...for a purpose." Visiting with her, it became pretty clear that opportunities presented themselves to her & if there was a reason or a purpose for it...she would do it...even if the road ahead would not be easy.

Her & her second husband, Doug opened up Vans BBQ in Oakville. At the time, she was selling real estate and good at it! They had other restuarants also. Like I mentioned before, an opportunity presented itself to Mrs. Ona. Once again the odds against her were difficult. It all came down to a desperate seller needing to sell a piece of real estate, that later would turn into Vans BBQ. She shared that she was apprehensive. The local paper had just come out highlighting the hard times Oakville was headed towards & here she was...thinking about opening up a restuarant right in the middle of it. One day she had the idea to make some BBQ, take it up to the Oakville location, &....ultimately...see what happens. It was a rough start, but the people that stopped by begged them to stay open....& it has been in business ever since. That was around 1982. She didn't say this verbatim, but the way I understand it - the REASON Van's in Oakville happened was because she had a client with a need, that she could fulfill & the purpose for staying open, is because people wanted her to.

She shared a story that is just too good to not share. She told me that when she was first getting going with Vans, the people of Oakville were givin' her a hard time. It was a dry precinct & she went through all the required notices & paperwork to get the beer license for the restaurant. A member of the local church stopped by & said: "Mrs. Ona, are you sure you want to go down to the courthouse? There are two bus loads from the church headed over there to protest against you getting the beer license." Mrs. Ona said: "Yeah? I'll ride with ya!"  Needless to say, she drove separate, had to be escorted in the back door for her safety, & the judge granted the beer license to Vans because all the necessary paperwork had been filed & there was nothing against their name. Vans in Oakville was sold this year, but you can still eat at their Three Rivers location!

After this story...I asked Mrs. Ona what her "WHY" was. Why did she do all this, and go through all this? What was her drive behind the decisions she made in her lifetime? She sat up, looked at me kind of speechless & thoughtful for a moment, and said: "I guess I just love people so much I just want to do these things." Probably the best "WHY" anyone can have.

We moved into her love for horse-drawn buggies & wagons. Mrs. Ona has a collection of horse-drawn buggies, carriages, & wagons that will be up for auction on Saturday in George West, starting at 10AM. There is a gig & Mexican cart that came off the Kennedy Ranch, which will be in the auction on Saturday, along with several other items from Kennedy Ranch & Chapman Ranch. She also had the stage coach & Mrs. Kennedy's Buggy, which they gave to The Corpus Christi Museum. They were in her care from 1965-1975.

Will be in the Auction in George West on Saturday.

Mexican Buggy off of Kennedy Ranch. Will be in Auction in George West 

Will be in Auction in George West on Saturday. 

Will in in Auction in George West on Saturday.

Front buggy off of Kennedy Ranch. Authentic to period. Maintained.
Will be in Auction in George West on Sunday.

She said she started collecting these, because she had a vision for a family dude ranch & a place similar to Motts in Corpus Christi, but she can't get around like she used to & it never came to fruition.

Her horses & the Chuck Wagon & Parade Harness were filmed in the Movie: Red & Yella, Kill a Fella, just last year. She also had the opportunity to be filmed as an extra in The Alamo with John Wayne & appear at Happy Shahan's Alamo Village in Bracketville.

This story is what took me over the edge. I COULD NOT HOLD MY EMOTIONS IN. We had somehow started talking about another one of her past businesses, Chuck Wagon Caters & someone mentioned "orphans." It struck me & I asked Mrs. Ona if she could elaborate. She told me: "There were LOADS of'm!" She said that they weren't all orphans. Some of the kiddos came from very wealthy families, but were lost in a sense. Her & her husband would take them in. They moved three buildings in from North Beach to house them. She said there would be 10, 15, 20 at a time. Some would stay only on weekends. Some never left. They would help with their businesses & with the horses. She said that the MAIN rule, was they HAD to go to school. There was one boy in particular that really had a hard time. She said they worked to get him on track & he was making great progress. Then one day his daddy showed up fussing & mad at the boy & tried to drag him off the place & she ran him off. After that story, she couldn't hold back her tears either.

She joked about her brother always saying that she could turn a piece of string into gold, but as we were sitting there visiting - we both agreed that big things don't just happen. You have to WORK to make them happen. Mrs. Ona's life is a legacy of LOVING HARD & WORKING HARD. She has selflessly worked & served & given & created & lived for others & has a heck of a time doin' it!

Ona & I after the interview!

Just goes to show how we all have it in us. Buck Up Auctions & myself have teamed up with Danny Jennings with ELCO Auctions out of Odem, TX to carry out this auction for Mrs. Ona. Danny was the VERY FIRST Auctioneer that gave ME a shot, when I first got my license. He's been in my corner ever since I started this auction journey, back in 2011.

We would like to invite EVERYONE out for this 2-Day Auction Event! We will be in George West on Saturday - Auction Starts a 10AM & Oakville on Sunday Starting at 1PM. Items will be available for Preview from 3PM until dark at both locations on FRIDAY.  Go to www.buckupauctions.com for all the info. We are updating the website daily.

You can also like our Facebook Pages Here: Buck Up Auctions & ELCO Auctions

God Bless!
Heather Kaspar
Buck Up Auctions
TXL 17037

Good People.

If you read my other blog: Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus, you will know that I am at a "tryin' to figure things out" stage with my AUCTION career. BELIEVE ME...I ain't quittin. I'm just tryin' to figure out how to make this work into my life & how to make this AUCTION COMPANY what I want it to be...not what everyone else thinks it should be. I'm tryin' to really figure out what is REALLY important to ME & how to have that SHINE THROUGH in my company. It is SO much easier from the outside looking in, to see a better way of doin' things. One of the most VALUABLE LESSONS I've already learned is to spend time with it. Don't rush things.....AT ALL. Most importantly.....GO WITH YOUR GUT!

I have to say that I am SO BLESSED to have GOOD PEOPLE in my life! I have a CREW that just keeps hangin' on in there with me, supportin' me, helpin' me, & just flat out BEING GOOD PEOPLE! They won't ever know just how much I APPRECIATE THEM!

I know I've blogged about this before to, but in this industry, there are AUCTIONEERS that will HELP you & there are AUCTIONEERS that won't....for all kinds of reasons: busy...they feel threatened, they may be a bit territorial, they've been burned & its hard to trust people... No matter the reason - GOD BLESS the HELPERS.

I want to give a BIG shout out to ELCO AUCTIONS in Odem, Texas. Danny is another person that has no idea how much I appreciate him. If you are anywhere in the Corpus Christi area you need to be sure to go check out his auction. When you are new to a business & your learnin'...it is SO GOOD to have someone that you TRUST to call & ask questions....& not feel like a dummy about it.

Another group of folks I want to give a shout out to is LIQUIDATORS AUCTION in Nachadoches, Texas. JUST GOOD PEOPLE....is all I have to say. Give those folks a call if you need to settle an estate!

That's all for today. On another note...THESE PEOPLE ARE AWESOME, but I would never know how awesome they were if I wouldn't have had the COURAGE to BUCK UP BABY! I called EVERY auction company in the coastal bend area when I got my license & Danny was the ONLY one that called me back, took the time to talk to me, and give me a chance to work for him. With my crew....I knew I needed good people I could trust, but I also knew that I had NO IDEA how much I could pay them or IF I could pay them. It's not real easy to tell folks that, but I wanted to be extremely REAL with them. There is nothing like working as a team, when you have one heck of a team to work with. With ole' Samantha from Liquidator's Auction... I remember being SO shocked to see ANOTHER young, female auctioneer in class. I honestly thought I'd be in a room with a bunch of ruff & gruff old fellas. To my suprise there were a few other ladies, some young guys, SOME ruff & gruff older fellas & little ole' Sammie. You know how it could've went. We could either choose to like each other & get to know each other OR NOT. I am ever so thankful for that girl & ever so thankful that we both had enough sense to BUCK UP & learn from each other & learn together.

Catchin' Up on the Goins On....

I know....I KNOW.... It's been awhile. Let's just say that I've been so cotton pickin' busy on complicated real life things, that I've been slackin' a little bit on my bloggin'. It also didn't help that I have been off and on with my computer for a WHILE........... I had to send it off a month or so ago to let the techs work on it. It took about a week. Then, when I got it back - they had fixed the problem, but then somethin' else didn't work. SO....I sent it off again. (Took another week almost.) Then we had wild & wooly weather come through Rockport & my INET was down for almost a week. Let's just say that I've been playin' lots of catch up...& I'm still not caught up BUT...I"m back :)! It AMAZES me at how important my computer and my Internet are to me now....

Well...I thought I'd get ya'll a little caught up on everything. Since I last wrote. I've helped out a few auctions. Me & Unlce Mele helped the RTC Varsity Volleyball Team raise over $9000 for their trip to Florida to the ESPN Invitational HS Tournament!! Way to represent!!  We're all proud of ya! Big props to all the bidders, donors, & volunteers too!

I also called bids at a Theatre Auction supporting the Rockport-Fulton Theatre Department. They were invited to attend the National Thespian Conference in Nebraska...and PERFORM!!! It was AMAZING at how talented these kids are! It was a smaller auction, with a really mixed group of people. Some had been to auctions before and some had not, but I think everybody had a GREAT time!! The first time I didn't use a PA :). I think I entertained'm! Break a leg in Nebraska! Big THANKS goes out to all the bidders, donors, & volunteers also!

Members of the cast & crew helping with chores at the fundraiser venue: Estelle Stair Art Gallery in Downtown Rockport! Big THANKS to Mr. & Mrs. Frederick!

Award Winning Cast & Crew!

A lot more is goin' on in my life right now... AUCTIONS & otherwise....and I will do my best to share what I will. We're gonna be shakin' things up a bit in the Kaspar household & not quite sure where, when, and how it's all gonna go down yet, but BUCK UP BABY. My ride has been pretty WiLD this year, but I have a feelin' I ain't seen nothin' yet. LIFE is gettin' ready to GRUNT, curl up to the sun, and give us all it's got. You better believe we'll be whoopin' and ridin' as hard and fast as the GOOD LORD needs us to. Wild rides lead to WiLd stories, so stay tuned :)! I promise it won't be a month until the next one!

OH! A couple weeks ago, at ELCO Auction in Odem, we were able to sell the 1998 AC Delco #3 Monte Carlo, 1st chassis built by Dale Earnhardt Inc, & the VERY SAME CAR that Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his 1st two championships in! I have to say it was pretty cool! The auction house was set up kinda like a car auction & we drove through the cars. If the car didn't sell there it was headed to Barrett Jackson. 

ELCO General Consignment Auction THIS Saturday!

Come on out for the General Consignment Auction in Odem THIS Saturday! There's a little bit of somethin' for everyone.... Antique cars, Rolexes, guns, knives, coins, old paper $$, china, pottery, glassware, jewelry, vintage beer &  Coca-Cola signs and I'm sure somethin' to suit your fancy!

Go to the ELCO website for more information & how to register - website! AUCTION starts at 10AM. If you can't be there physically & you see something you'd like to have....give'm a call & bid LIVE on the phone OR see what else you guys may be able to work out. Check out some of the pics below. I hope to see ya'll there!!

How cool is this?! Seriously....

1964 Corvair Convertible: IT RUNS!! & has new parts to go with it!

1978 Rochell Craft Jet Boat, 460 V8

2002 Harley with only 3800 miles!

3 piece set of handpainted oriental vases

Confederate War Bond  interest Jan. 1865

Signed by George Foreman

Mille-fleur Necklace and Bracelet Set

Come one, come all! Get ready to throw your hands up & have a ball!!! Until next time....Buck Up Baby!!!
-Heather Kaspar
TDLR LIC#17037

Church Auction THIS Saturday!!

HELLO Everyone!!! There is a church auction THIS Saturday for Grace United Methodist Church in Annaville, TX! There are LOTS of items in very good shape, such as: appliances, electronics, pews, chairs, tables, furniture, sound equipment, toys, decorations, and signs. Be sure to check out the pics!

Portable Stage

Over 40 MATCHING church pews in great condition!

Projector...

Stove & Vent Hood

St. Francis Garden Statue. 

Desk

This is a no reserve auction which means - EVERYTHING GOES!! All proceeds benefit the church!! Auction opens @ 8AM & starts @ 10AM. Items can be viewed online OR Friday 9-5. Be sure to check out the gallery online for more pics. The link is above. Hope to see you!!

Hovercraft, Hummer, 6-Wheeled ATV, Unimog & LOTS of Lots!

So, I helped out at the General Consignment Auction in Odem this past Saturday. We had SO many DiFFerenT items and 600 lots, which I think they said actually came out to over 800 items. Some of the lots were multiples or choice for example, let's say there was a lot of comic books.... It would be LOT# 101A, B, C, D, Etc. They would be distinguished by the type of series it belonged to.

So here are some of the items that went up for Auction. Some sold. Some the Lead Auctioneer had to put a call into the consigner. Some didn't meet the reserve. Nonetheless...you should have seen the crowd. There were LOTS of people there.

12 passenger Hover Craft. Never saw one of those before. A fella out of California phoned in for that one. 

Hummer in GREAT condition!

6-Wheeled ATV....barely used. 

My friend was wanting this REAL bad. She said something about if the Apocalypse came ....or something like that :) But really..... SUPER cool....

Here's a few more REALLY cool items. If any of this stuff interests any of you readers....keep a look out on their website. They have RAD items like these all the time. You can bid live on the phone OR place an absentee bid. Here's the website: http://www.elcoauctions.com/

Old Rider Fire Truck

Pool table in VERY good condition. They also had an air hockey table that looked like it was barely used!

MEGA cool WORKING Vintage Coca-Cola Refrigerator. 

Buck up Baby & make it a FANTASTIC week! Happy bidding :)!

Special December JUNK PROM!!!

Hey Everyone!! I had to write a blog about the FUN, FUN Special December JUNK PROM the Junk Gypsies held for their TV Series coming out (on HGTV!) in March! We had a BLAST! They held it at a little dance hall at Marburger Farms in Round Top (my little hometown)!!

Here we are all dudded up!!

Gotta show of them boots!!

Last year when we won the Halloween contest we went and took our winnings and put it to good use dancing in Corpus. Well...when we found out that the Junk Gypsy Girls were throwing ANOTHER Junk Prom we were ALL ABOUT it!! So all the KISS girls plus my little sister, Kacie´s BF and my friend from high school - Jonathan, and Kacie´s brother (AKA The Ultimate Warrior) came along :).

I had to add the KISS picture again b/c we pretty much ROCKED it!!

You can tell by the pictures we had a GREAT time! I´ve said it once and I´ll say it again..... I´m PROUD of those GYPSY Girls! I met some pretty cool people and had a GREAT time with ALL my friends!!

The letters were pretty much AWESOME!!!

Here we are on the PINK carpet!! Lucky Ms. Shannon won a door prize!!

There were some really cool characters, DELICIOUS food from ROYER´S ROUND TOP CAFE, YUMMY JG Sangria and AWESOME entertainment AND.... The BEST Port-a-Potties I think I´ve ever been in! Way to be HGTV!!

DEB was there!! I used to work with/for her at her sister´s store LA FINCA in Round Top! You may also recognize her from the Junk Gypsies Pilot Episode! She´s the gal that painted the stripes on the wall!!

Besides all this fun...I´m making some headway with my AUCTIONING also....actually A LOT faster than I expected. I just helped out at a VERY professional auction (I had to go out and buy a navy blazer and khaki skirt) AND...they want me to start helping them out more often. They don´t have an auction every month or anything, but I´m glad for the exposure. PLUS... I still have the RTC Education Foundation Auction coming up at the end of January and an auction benefiting the Humane Society mid-February. If that isn´t enough....(on top of having my REAL job) I´ll also be helping out at ELCO Auctions in Odem, TX! This auction is pretty stinkin´ cool! I went and helped out Saturday morning before Junk Prom and they auctioned off a nice Classic car, golf carts, trailers, scooters, Rolex watches and SO much more!!

Stay tuned for more on my CrAzY life :)!! I just have to keep tellin´ myself... BUCK UP BABY!!!