BIDDING WAR
Public turns out for UTB-TSC annual auction

FOR UT BROWNSVILLE

Above: Vehicles were some of the many items that were auctioned off Saturday morning at The Village at Fort Brown.

  Left: Despite the constant drizzle

  Lofty Johnson and his friend sifted

  through all the items at UTB-TSC

  annual auction.

BY MADELINE BUCKLEY

THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

They came from all over the Rio Grande Valley, some to bid on items that fuel a niche interest, some to stock a business with furniture, and some just came for the atmosphere.  The steady drizzle of rain didn’t stop hoards of people from standing outside for hours Saturday to place bids on a wide variety of used items at the University of Texas Brownsville and Texas Southmost College’s annual auction.  Auctioneers yelled for bids on typical pieces, such as couches, desks, microwaves and cars.  Yet many items the school auctioned off weren’t the average household commodity.  Sonogram machines, metal detectors and volleyball serving machines lined a parking lot on University Boulevard where hopeful bidders huddled together under umbrellas and raincoats.  Larry Carda, 63, drove to Brownsville from Donna to possibly bid on used golf carts, if the price was right.  In his free time, Carda buys old golf carts, refurbishes them and then sells the newly-functioning cart.  “It’s a hobby,” he said, surveying a row of old golf carts, some sitting lopsided and missing a wheel.  This auction, with its array of odds and ends, presented an opportunity to potentially purchase golf carts at a bargain.  Rusty Bruce, 58, who hails from Montana and is visiting his parents in Harlingen, came to the auction with no particular item in mind. He came for the energy and anticipation that usually surrounds an auction.  “This is what you do for fun at home in Montana. Go to an auction,” Bruce said.  He and his sister browsed the items, looking for a price they couldn’t afford to pass up.  Gesturing to a stationary exercise bike, 37-year-old Susanna Ramos said they cost about $300 when purchased new, but at auction can be purchased for about $50.  The Edinburg woman is hoping to add pieces to her home gym, which currently has a treadmill, elliptical and some weight machines.  “I want to add more to what I already have,” she said.  Some saw the auction as an opportunity to furnish a business.  Nelson Monterrosa, 42, runs a day care center in Edinburg. He placed bids on several cubbies, tables and chairs. Monterrosa said he frequently travels to auctions when he needs to replace furniture at the day care.  “New is too expensive,” he said.  The university ran the auction throughout the day Saturday, on site and online, to sell surplus equipment.  PHOTOS BY YVETTE VELA/THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

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