Colonel Ed Walk

“ALL IN ALL DONE”…COLONEL ED WALK

The only “Colonel” in our town was Ed Walk. Colonel Walk died this last year at the age of 85, and his legacy as an auctioneer will always be remembered.

He was one of the “old-timers” who never used a speaker system, and very reluctantly started using the paper clerking system which is now long outdated.

I remember when Colonel Ed and his cashier Roy Chmela, conducted their auctions with Roy wearing an apron and collecting the dollars bid by going out into the crowd to the successful bidder. Eventually Ed used the CT-12 paper clerking system, realizing that it “might” be a little easier that way……..

Colonel Walk was of the “old-school,” usually not hiring any ring-people prior to the auction. He always had Roy by his side, but sometimes didn’t even have a clerk scheduled and would just request someone he knew from the crowd. Cliff Boessen was a constant with Ed for many years, often performing a lot of the grunt work necessary prior to the auction, and then assisting Colonel Walk at the sale. Danny Bayee was another dedicated auction worker for Ed, typically clerking many of the auctions in the Marinette-Menominee area.

Ed was a good mentor to me when I was just starting out. He stood behind some shrubs during my first “solo” auction and kept on saying “faster Nellie- faster!” Heck, I was so scared that I was just happy that ANY words or numbers were coming out of my mouth – regardless of the speed, (or lack) of them!!

Ed and I used to drive around together just for the camaraderie, but I soon realized that it was a good thing that I was a habitual seatbelt-wearer. We’d be driving down Highway 64 and all of a sudden he would slam on the brakes and exclaim “I had an auction at that farm in (19….) and we sold (……..) for ($…..)! It didn’t matter which rural highway we were on, the same thing happened time after time. What a memory! (I can only guess that his lack of exposure to computers, cell-phones, etc made for a much “roomier” mind). That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it…………..

Colonel Walk was a very patriotic guy, especially after serving in World War 2 and receiving many awards and citations. Many times he would start his auctions with the Pledge of Allegiance and sometimes would even get the crowd to sing the National Anthem! A frustrating side issue of his patriotism to the competitive bidders was that he would sometimes get “sidetracked” when selling an item that reminded him of Americanism and proceed to tell “war stories” until he felt like stopping……………

He was always fastidious in his appearance, wearing his usual “uniform” of green work pants and shirt, as well as his signature cowboy hat. He spoke his mind, and I fondly use some of his sayings while conducting my own auctions. When the crowd would get a little too loud in their socializing, and the actual bidders would have a hard time hearing where the bid was at, he’d holler out “HOLD LADY’S AID TOMMOROW……TODAY WE’RE HAVING AN AUCTION!!” And the saying, “you can’t please all of the people all of the time” would once in a while relate to an unhappy client who had unrealistic expectations. His advice to me for those situations was “pay them and get the hell out of there!” Fortunately, the majority of Ed’s clients were very happy with his services though.

Ed worked for the Scott Paper Company for 39 years before achieving his dream of becoming an auctioneer. In 1964, Colonel Walk attended the Reich American School of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa and combined that knowledge with his basic principles of hard work and honesty to create a successful career in the auction industry.

I can still hear him saying “25…30….35………….all in all done???? SOLD!”

Auctioneer Nellie Beland
Superior Auction & Appraisal LLC
906-864-2942
www.superiorauction.net