He has a gift for rapid gab

John Kuchera chugged along on a green and yellow John Deere, pulling a bright red McCormick Farmall tractor behind.

That’s pretty slow going for a man who’s a state champion in a business known for machine-gun fast vocal delivery.

Kuchera, a Wyndmere, N.D., resident, reached over the state line and took first in the 2010 South Dakota Auctioneers Association bid-calling competition on Sept. 5.

The 38-year-old husband and father of three said he felt “great” and “a little surprised” to win, while taking a break from prepping for a recent consignment auction at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds in West Fargo.

The 13 participants in the South Dakota competition came from several states and battled it out in two rounds. Even though it’s a competition, the auction is the real deal.

“Money is changing hands,” Kuchera said.

In the first round, participants auction off items they brought to sell. In the second round, they hawk donated items.

Kuchera thinks he scored points by welcoming the audience when others failed to do so. He also said he really didn’t make any mistakes.

It was only Kuchera’s second such competition, having thrown his hat in the ring at the North Dakota Auctioneers Convention.

“That’s the first one I ever entered,” he said. “I was a little nervous.”

Kuchera didn’t grow up in the auction business and said he wasn’t around auctions any more “than any other rural kid, I guess.”

Even so, fellow auctioneer Vincent Bachmann said Kuchera is “top notch.”

Bachmann would know. Like Kuchera, Bachmann works for Helbling Auctioneers of Kindred, N.D. Bachmann also just happens to hold the current North Dakota Auctioneers Association bid-calling title.

“First of all, his people presence is absolutely terrific,” Bachmann said of Kuchera.

Though the business may be best known for the characteristic quick call of its announcers, being a good auctioneer is about more than rapid-fire linguistics. It’s a combination of factors such as poise and appearance.

“You’ve got to be professional,” Kuchera said.

Of course, Kuchera has some speed, too, something the business uses to “speed things along.”

“People don’t want to stand there all day,” he said.

If you want to know all about good auctioneering, you might just want to hang around at Kuchera’s auctions.

“There’s bid callers and then there’s auctioneers,” Bachmann said, “and he’s an auctioneer.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Shane Mercer at (701) 451-5734

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