# History of the Ravenna Fur Sale



## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

I finally took my old pictures of the first Southern Michigan Trappers ASSN Fur Sale at the Ravenna Conservation club and got them put on a disk so I could post them.

The first one is of the now late Ray Auw of Whitehall. He was district 9 Director of the SMTA at the time. Ray fought tooth and nail for the trappers of western Michigan with the president of the SMTA to get the sale approved. The president of the SMTA said we didnt have enough fur to hold a sale Over the presidents objections the board of directors approved dist 9 hosting the first sale. The first sale was held in January of 1978. After a couple of years it went to a two day sale. The presidents sale no longer exists but the Ravenna sale is still going strong.










The next two were taken as I was selling some fur. Dang I have aged in the last 30 years. (Shut up Griffydog) Note the guy in the tan sweater. That is the notorious Fritz the Furrier. As I said in a post a while back that he had been around the trappers of Michigan for quite a while. I just never realized that he had been around that long.



















This is just a random photo from the sale. Note the hair dooos on the guys.










I was involved in the sale from the start until around 1990. I started out counting fur on the sale until my oldest son (plaid shirt in the picture) got old enough. He and I bagged the fur for the buyers after it was sold. 

For a few years I took care of the lot book for the sale. 

After that first sale there was not a potato chip, hamburger bun or hot dog bun or anything to put in one or a can off beer left in Ravenna. After the sale we told the club to raise the prices the next year as they were too cheap. This sale began a great relationship between the SMTA and the RCC. We put on quite a few trapper ed classes at the club of the years.

One of the real highlights from the sale was after a lot of 200 XXL and XXXL **** were sold for $50 each. My son was trying to figure out how much that amounted to. I told him 10 grand and to get the **** in the bags as the trapper has 150 outs up next. They sold for $36 a piece.

The next week I got a call from Parker Dozier, the fur report writer for the Trapper Mag, at the time wanting fur price info from the sale. Must be the Ravenna sale had caught the attention of the fur industry

The next morning (2 day sale at that time) a couple of guys came to me wanting to borrow a knife. They had caught a couple **** the night before, ya right it was 10* that night, they just new where there were some **** in a den or barn. They wanted to cash in on the high prices.


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## griffondog (Dec 27, 2005)

Weren't we a bunch of sharp dressed men! Bet you still have some of those plaid shirts in the closet. I keep waiting for you to find some old long haired poney tail pictures of me.:tdo12:

Griff


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## joefish (Aug 30, 2002)

It was interesting to see some of those old pictures. I am a member at RCC and will be serving food there most of the day. It is a great time for us club members too. I used to trap but haven't done it in years what with family and work commitments but it is interesting to see some of the critters that many people don't know are pretty common in our area. Thanks again for the pictures.


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

griffondog said:


> Weren't we a bunch of sharp dressed men! Bet you still have some of those plaid shirts in the closet. I keep waiting for you to find some old long haired poney tail pictures of me.:tdo12:Griff


I never took your picture as I valued my camera too much to risk getting it broke. I have a lot of old convention pics as you saw at Dave's. I think that plaid shirt and Frostline down vest might be in the stuff I have waiting for my grandson to grow into. Seems to have shrunk over the years LOL



joefish said:


> It was interesting to see some of those old pictures.


I have a set of the pictures for the club. I will look for you behind the food counter if I make it down. There used to be a spot on the shelf above the window for my special order butterscotch pie. 

Made a lot of good freinds both trappers and RCC members over the years at the sale.RCC is one of the best clubs in the state.

Can't remember who the cook was that I coned into putting the kitchen thermometer out doors one morning. Was so cold the roof of my van poped when we came by the waste water. 28* below zero.

Slept on folded down tables more than one time when we had a blizzard going on Saturday and still had to sell on Sunday.


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

Tom,

Sure enjoyed seeing your photos of the Ravena fur sale. It really brings back some great memories.

Here is a photo that was taken at the Ackerson Lake conservation club just south of Jackson. The exact date escapes me. But I believe it must have been in the late 1960's. It was probably before SMTA was started by Don Hoyt.











The guy in the fur hat is Gary Dunlap, who was the president of the Michigan Zone 3 Trappers Association. I am next to him in the horn rimmed glasses and served as the Secretary / Treasuer of the Association.

In the hay day of the Ackerson Lake Auctions the one day sale ran up over $100,000 of fur sold. Back then we had very low overheads and the commission for selling the fur was only 3%.

Gary did the auctioning and my wife at the time and I did all the paper work. You can see her in the back ground with the calculator. The two kids to her left are our daughter and son. It was a real family affair.

OK, Mike, you can hit me with a good one about my funny looking glasses, but as you probably know, writing trapping articles for FFG does put a lot of stress on the eyes.


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## griffondog (Dec 27, 2005)

Dave

I use to use some of Gary's fox lure in the late 70's. Didn't Gary also try to start a trap buisness? I think it was called Baby bear traps.

Griff


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

Griff,

Yes, Gary did have a trapping supply business around Hubbard Lake for sometime.

Wes Grant was also a mentor for Gary, as well as myself. I imagine the Dunlap Lures for fox were based a lot on the knowledge he gained from Wes, who was a outstanding all around trapper.

I did run into Gary at F&T trapping supply last year and he is running a fishing bait business, I believe.


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## THUMBTRAPPER (Nov 17, 2006)

Wow..Some great picks...Dave how much were them mink going for back in the 60's? Them were some big buck back then eh? excellent POst!


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Dave I have been trying to get a group picture that has Wes Grant in it to download on M-S and for some reason it won't go. It was taken at one of the last picnics at Charlie Kreigers place near Bangor.

Talking about mink!!!
I wish i could find the copy of the Trapper that has the picture of Art Heiseman from Cedar Springs on the cover. He caught around 100 mink a year. He always sent a post card to get his lot number for the Ravenna sale. I would call him back with his number just so I could talk to the old gent. Offered to take me on his line with him to teach me how and I was not smart enough to go with him.

I remember meeting Gary Dunlap someplace just don't remember the details.

I got involved with the Assns. right after the SMTA hosted the NTA convention in 1975 in Marshall. That is what got Ray Auw started as the Director for Dist 9 of the SMTA and lead to the Ravenna fur sale.


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## Mister ED (Apr 3, 2006)

For those that may know him (I know Multi does) I am trying to get Greg Christopherson to come to the sale on Sat. Correct me if I am wrong here Multi, but Greg auctioned the sale for several years back when it was a two day sale.

Greg has to work Sat morning, so I don't know if I will get him talked into it or not. I'll try and catch up with him tomorrow and let you know.


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Mr Ed 

You are right Greg and his brother Steve (name escapes me due to old timers/ cheated and found an old newspaper clipping) auctioned fur for the SMTA a number of years. Ray Auw heard that Greg and his brother had started into the auction business doing horse sales. Ray got them to come to Ravenna on Sat to see if they were interested in doing the sale. Ray got the mic from the old auctioneer and gave it to Greg.

It didn't take long for the price of fur to start to climb as Greg kept the buyers on there feet. They realized that he was not messing around and meant to sell some fur. If they wanted to buy fur they better be on there feet or Greg or his brother were gong to be calling out Sold and they would miss out. The Christoperson brothers were really good and sold way more fur than there is at the sale today

About 3 or 4 lots before I was scheduled to sell the old guy took the mic back as he could see the writing on the wall that he was going to be unemployed. With his crappy lingo I had to pull my fur because the prices plummeted. 

Sure would be good to see Greg again. I can never seem to catch him home when I got through.

The young guy that has been dong the sale lately is good as he doen't mess around he sell fur like the Christopersons did.

Hope to see ya there on Sat, Ed, if the weather doesn't get to bad. Many years I never got home from the sale untill tues or weds due to the weather. To old to battle that crap any more. seems like there was a blizard on fur sale weekend every year for quite a few years.


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## Mister ED (Apr 3, 2006)

I SHOULD be there at some point. Probably not too early, as I have lot #84. And I found some new yote tracks tonight that I want to set Sat morning (no time tomorrow).

Who else is planning on attending.


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

I will be going, have gone the last few years and met Mutibeard last year,he was easy to pick out!!:lol: Would really like to meet a few more MS members there... Have really been looking forward to it!!

See you there! -Bob


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Here is the picture from the Muskegon Chronicle of Steve and Greg Christoffersen taken at the 1983 Ravenna Sale. 










This a picture of the fur buyers taken at the 1979 Ravenna Sale. I do not think any of them are in the business any more. The Black monday stockmarket crash and resulting crash in fur prices put a lot of them out of bussiness. I do see the guy with number 6 on his shirt once in a while at flea markets.










I hope to see you guys tomorrow. Don't bother to eat before you come the food is always great in both quality and price. We wil see how good a cook joefish is

Tom


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Multibeard, Do you remember the name of a senior buyer that would have been a 60-70 yr old senior in the early 1960s that bought my Ryerson Creek rats? He operated out of his kitchen just off Apple Ave NE of Freeway.


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Was it Abe Salcina? Seems like he lived on West Street south of the golf course off Marquette. 

I sold my early fur to a guy in Grand Haven. Bob Kroll and I counted over 5,000 rats in his basement while we waited for him to go up stairs to get the cash to pay us.

Wasn't Reyerson Creek the super fund site they cleaned up a couple years ago? 

If it was that explains your problems, retarded from the polutants!!!


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## Dave Lyons (Jun 28, 2002)

Abe was my first furbuyer. My wives grandpa also trapped with abe during the bounty years.

Dave


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## Hamilton Reef (Jan 20, 2000)

Abe Salcina and West Street is it. I just knew him as Abe. I started trapping Ryerson Creek in 1959 upstream of Scott Street and mostly behind Steel School. I could trap before and after school. The creek was clean upstream with the pollution in the downtown area. Muskegon Lake pollution and our love of neighborhood creek playground started many programs in adult life to clean up pollution in West Michigan streams and lakes. Unfortunately Gerry Van Woerkom was also from East Muskegon and he turned out to be the pro CAFO cow poop polluter Senator in the state. It is a continual battle with corrupt politicians to protect our old trapping areas for the future generations. I still have those original traps.


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