After years of calling out bids and prices, Melfort’s Barrie Jung is getting a call of his own.
Jung is one of three auctioneers being inducted into the Saskatchewan Auctioneers Association (SAA) Auction Era Hall of Honour. He said it was a welcome surprise.
“You never expect something like that,” he said. “The association inducts auctioneers every two or three years … but no, I wasn’t expecting to get in there.”
Jung came to the world of auctioneering after his time in radio came to an end. Jung said he has held several jobs before coming to be an auctioneer.
“I was in a lot of other things, I was a truck driver and I was a mechanic, sheet metal worker and miner and different things like that, and then six years in radio four and four on air and two in sales,” he explained.
Jung first got into the auction business back in 1985 with Hodgins Auctioneers. He spent 30 years with Hodgins Auctioneers in Melfort and the past seven years with Bruce Schapansky Auctioneers in Tisdale.
“When I left the radio station, I was kind of in between jobs and out of the blue one day Grant (Hodgins) phoned me,” Jung remembered. “We had a mutual friend and this mutual friend told Grant that I wasn’t working and he needed someone so he phoned. I went in for an interview and away we went.”
He said that the business is interesting, but occasionally has its frustrations.
” I did a lot of travelling, saw a lot of country (and) I met a lot of people,” he said. “That was the best part—all the people I met, the characters in the auction business, and the characters in clients and customers. It was pretty interesting.”
Auctioneers may be known for their fast-paced calls selling anything from farm equipment to furniture, but Jung said the business is focused on people, not things.
Hodgins Auctioneers, a longtime Melfort staple discontinued operations in 2015 but Jung landed on his feet with Schapansky.
“I moved on and went with Bruce,” he said. “Bruce had worked with us years back and then he went out on his own. He asked me to come on board with him and I did.”
Jung has also been a big part of the Saskatchewan Auctioneers Association over the years. After joining the SAA in 1986, Jung first became a board member in 1998. He served one term as president of the association, along with three terms as vice president and in positions on the board of directors and board of trustees.
Going into the Hall of Honour with Jung will be Jason LeBlanc of Estevan and Ivan White of North Battleford.
Jung said that he is friendly with his fellow inductees, White and Leblanc, and he is looking forward to the induction evening.
“Ivan White is being inducted as well and he worked with us for a number of years, and Jason LeBlanc who had his own company down in Estevan. I know Jason quite well and we’ve become friends over the years, so it’s it’ll be an interesting evening.”
The Auction Era Hall of Honour Induction ceremony is on Jan. 30 at the Western Development Museum in North Battleford. It is in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary Convention and Annual General Meeting of the SAA. There will also be a fundraiser auction to close out the event.
Jung has loved his almost 40 years in the auction world.
“I’ve certainly enjoyed the auction business and really appreciated the people I’ve met and what I’ve learned in the business,” Jung said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
