Big Amish Crowd Turns Out For Central Michigan Auction (19 Photos)

Jim Halverson recently attended an auction in Gladwin County, Michigan – one of two Amish communities in the county. As you can see from the photos, it was a well-attended event, likely in the hundreds of people. It happened this past Friday, May 29.

Auctions are a fixture of Amish community life. They may be estate sales, farm sales, benefit events, or simply a regular community consignment auction. Whatever the occasion, they tend to draw a crowd.

This particular event was a “retirement auction” by a farming family in the community. In the sale bill, they state simply that “We are retiring and will offer the following at Public Auction.”

The sale bill included farm implements, draft horses, household items, and even hunting rifles (more on that below). Let’s have a look at some sights from the event (all photos here by Jim).

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Here you can see a buggy at the turn-in for the event. Note that the auction is being run by Yoder Brothers, a well-established Amish auction house based in Michigan.

Buggy parking this way. There’s likely a separate area for motor vehicles.

Two of those buggies.

The auction draws men, women, and children of all ages. For some, it’s a place to catch up and socialize as much as it is an opportunity to buy something.

The benches the Amish use in church are multi-functional. Not only for seating in church, they are also converted into tables for the church meal, or just used whenever seating is needed.

The younger crew finds their own spots. A group of boys has set up near one of the tents.

Here we see some of the many items this retiring farming household is selling.

It’s a bit hard to see, but it looks like there are a couple of bolt action rifles on the table here. There were at least two for sale according to the auction bill linked above.

Bare feet on a warm day is a common sight at Amish events like this.

No Amish auction is complete without food. This one had a bake sale benefiting the local Amish schools.

Plenty of baked goods on offer under the tent. The one cookie label I can read says “Sorghum”.

A group of women and girls is busy at the food stand. Lay’s, Doritos, M&M’s, ham and cheese, snack mix.

Outside, hot dogs go on the grill.

With more waiting on the back of a buggy.

The condiment table.

Thanks to Jim for the look inside this auction. And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen an auction from this area. Last year Jim shared with us sets of photos from another auction in Gladwin County.