`family Traditions' Exhibit Begins At King's

109th Expected Home In Few Weeks 
Tentatively, Bravo Battery Returns This Month And Alpha Returns Early Next.

By JON FOX jfox@leader.net
 Sunday, January 09, 2005 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE - Temperatures hovering around freezing and persistent rain in
a muddy, oil-streaked city junk yard might not have made for a shopper's
paradise. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But then this wasn't a mall. It was a city auction and where else could you
get an Army-surplus water tanker or a hulking industrial snow blower? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The rain would just have to be endured. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bob Baloga had fashioned a makeshift poncho out of a kitchen trash bag.
After finding a bit of shelter in the shadow of a truck, he hunkered down to
wait until the auctioneer got to the item he was eying. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There were about 120 trucks, water tanks, ambulances and assorted pieces of
heavy equipment lined up in the Department of Public Works yard off of
Conyngham Avenue. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Matched with the items were about 120 intrepid men in Carhartt jackets,
baseball caps, boots and the occasional trash bag waiting to snap them up at a
bargain price. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Baloga was poised to bid on an air compressor near the back of the lot.
"It's missing a carburetor," he said. That amounts to a bit of a gamble, he
conceded. A replacement could cost as much as he hoped to pay for the item
itself. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For $50, he was planning to roll the compressor off the yard. "Worthwhile
figure," Baloga said. "Ingersoll Rand, it is," he added, referring to the make
of the equipment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Coaxing the crowd a bit, auctioneer Dan Nevius talked up a 1985 Dodge
truck. "This is another truck," he said. "This one's a cream pie." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Less than five minutes of chatter between Nevius and the crowd and the
"cream pie" was sold for $300. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Paul Graham had come solely for the spectacle. "I just came to see if this
junk moves. I can't believe people buy this stuff." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This place is going to be empty by the time this is done," Mayor Tom
Leighton said from under a broad umbrella. "This allows us to clean up our
scrap yard so it looks like a true DPW." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Despite the miserable weather, Leighton said "the biggest complaint is that
there's too many people to bid and they're not getting good prices. That's
good for us." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 City Administrator J.J. Murphy said he had expected the auction to pull in
about $50,000 in revenue for the city, but by the end of the day the total had
surpassed $120,000. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Only three items went unsold, Murphy said. It was the first auction under
Leighton's administration. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As Nevius moved on to a industrial grass clipping machine, a buyer
complained that the bidding started a bit too high. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's got no motor," the man hollered. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Hey, you can't get everything," Nevius said, and the auction continued. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jon Fox, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7219. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 CUTLINE: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTOS/AIMEE DILGER &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John Bonk, left, and Bob Baloga pore over a list of items being auctioned
off on Saturday. The two had sought shelter from a cold rain in the shadow of
a truck. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Auctioneer Dan Nevius of Berwick keeps the action rolling as he points at a
bidder on Saturday. The city was auctioning about 120 pieces of surplus
equipment at the Department of Public Works site on Conyngham Avenue. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

W-b's Junk: It's Going, Gone The City Garners $120,000, More Than Expected, Auctioning Old Vehicles And Other Equipment.