Part of the crowd listens to the chant of Brett Wilcox auctioning off a leaf wetness gauge (middle of photo). Harris Wilcox proudly rests his hands on the shoulders of his great-grandson Cash, Brett's son. Photograph by Walter Horylev.

By 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 12, 2001, vehicles - mostly pickup trucks - lined both sides of Curtis Road in Parma as far as the eye could see. People from as far away as Boston, Massachusetts were there for one of the largest farm auctions in this area of New York state - the Al Gioia real estate and orchard equipment auction.

The crowd was estimated at more than 700 by Craig Wilcox, president of Harris Wilcox Auctioneers. About 300 bidders looked over 65 pieces of major farm equipment including diesel tractors, plus an assortment of smaller items such as ladders and milk cans. The auction, announced by Craig Wilcox, began promptly at 5:30 p.m.

A variety of small items were quickly auctioned. Then at 6 p.m., as announced in previous ads in Suburban News, the realty part of the auction began as 40 registered bidders considered the 17 building lots located along the north side of Dunbar Road. The parcels were 100 feet wide of varying depths defined by a year-round creek, ranged in size from 1.3 to 3.4 acres, sold as is with an instrument survey and warranty deed. Installation of a sewer line and retention pond is the responsibility of Al Gioia.

Bidding was brisk. Each winning bidder chose a parcel or parcels. The first successful bidder at $23,000 chose lot #5. Subsequent successful bids were two lots at $20,000 each and two at $15,000 each. A 10 percent buyer's fee was added to the price.

Lot #16 went to Rolaine Homes, Inc. of North Greece, New York. This developer previously built six homes on Gioia's land east of the sites being auctioned.

At this point, Gioia exercised his option of withdrawing the remaining 12 parcels from the bidding.

Attention now turned to the larger equipment spread throughout the grounds. Father, Harris Wilcox; son, Craig Wilcox and grandson, Brett Wilcox rotated as auctioneers moving quickly from item to item. According to Glenn Lawrence of the Harris Wilcox team, it takes an average of one minute to auction an item or lot. Among the largest items offered was a John Deere 65 hp tractor with factory cab and loading bucket, 3800 hours, bought in 1989 for $36,000. It sold for $14,700.

In all, 243 items of equipment were auctioned. The dollar yield was not available.

The auction ended at 8:30 p.m.