(playful music) - $7 over here, who say 7.50, Do I hear 7.50?

7.50 there, $8 over here.

Do I hear 9?

- My dad was a guy that he loved to visit with people, and it was probably the best thing, if there was an auction sale, of farm machinery, of the livestock and the likes that he loved to go and I started tagging out along with him when I was just knee high the cucumber per se.

I loved to listen because the auctioneer kind of mesmerized me on how he could handle the crowd and how he could talk so fast and remember so many names.

You know, in those days there was no bidding numbers.

Either the clerk of the bank or the auctioneer had to just about know the person's name and was a little embarrassing for the banker or the clerk to have to ask, you know, "Sir, what, what is your name?"

It's a little embarrassing.

(auctioneer chants) (calm music) - All right, here we go.

100 now 25.

I'm 125.

Now 50 now.

Somebody 75 somebody, 75.

I look at the values that we were raised with and there's no doubt we were born with great parents.

There are tenacity and work ethic and doing the right thing and being honest and transparent, I think that was the the key piece.

I mean, we were born in a foundation of very hard work.

With that comes a lot of opportunity.

- [Dale] I knew as a young person that it would be fun to maybe, maybe be an auctioneer.

I started telling my wife, 'cause I was farming when I get the, the ground plowed and all the corn in and the likes of that and the beans in in the bins and so on and so forth.

I think I'll go to the auction school.

You know, I told her that for three years and she said, "You know, didn't you tell me that last year?

And didn't you tell me that the year before and maybe the year before that?"

She said, "Maybe you should make good on your promise."

Of which I did.

I went to the Reisch World Wide College of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa.

Found out that I didn't like it.

I loved it.

- [Kristine] Our father went to auction school when I was four years old but I don't remember life not being a part of an auction family.

I remember at times being with our father in the barn and he would sell the wheelbarrow and he practices auctioneering over and over and over even after being in the business for many years and I remember doing, you know, engine, engine number nine that drill as a young child or a 10, 10, 20, 20, 30, 30.

There was something about it.

I could feel it in my bones that someday I wanted to do this.

- [Dale] So I got a break in the business of auctioneering.

Not immediately right away, but shortly after I went an auctioneer from Benson his name is Abner Jacobson.

I asked him for a job and here's how we talked.

"No, I'll tell you this, I got a lot of people here right now that want to work," so it didn't look too good.

But six months later I went back and talked to him again.

Three months later after that, I went back to him talked to him again, and finally I asked him I used a little different concept and I said "If I ever get a sale of my own could I ask you to come and help me with the sale?"

"I'll try to help you and get you started."

(soft music) He had such a magnetic personality that everybody wanted to do business with him.

Everybody liked the guy.

And there's one thing about being an auctioneer or about being a salesperson, if you're not well liked people don't want to do business with you.

You have to create that system of likability.

A guy by the name of Gordon Taylor.

He said, if you're gonna be an auctioneer there's two things you're gonna have to have.

You know what it is?

- A cane?

- He says, one is a cane and the other one is a hat.

And if you wanna be successful, and I wore that with me.

Then when the head started really going bald I figured that was a good cover up for the thing.

- [Glen] The best compliment that my dad ever received when he was awarded the Hall of Fame title as a Minnesota Hall of Fame Auctioneer, one of the auctioneers said, "With Dale Fladeboe you don't need a contract.

His word is as good as gold."

(soft music) - After our father's first heart attack my brother Glenn and I decided pretty much overnight if this business is going to continue, we need to step out and we need to go make a difference and serve client.

- [Dale] I give the kids all the credit in the world because they've taken the thing to about four levels higher than what I had.

But I still enjoy being an auctioneer.

Just the fact of catching bids.

I go to all sales and catch bids and not that much bid calling anymore because the kids are quicker and faster and better and gooder.

Have you ever heard of gooder?

Quicker, better, faster, and gooder.

- [Glen] A huge part about auctioneering, auctioneering is very different at a land auction and an equipment auction and a benefit auction.

You have to be slower sometimes.

Sometimes you have to be faster.

It's a real mix based on what audience you're in front of.

(Kristine calls bids) - The real art behind the chant is how can you connect with the audience?

Everyone's chant is unique to themself, but as long as you can be clear with your chant, I think excitement and energy really gets the public excited and really feel that connection with the auctioneer to get them to bid maybe one more time.

Going once, going twice, I am.

Sold it for 625 to bidder number 14.

- [Glen] Auctioneering is a role and responsibility that involves not just calling out numbers not just serving as the referee essentially of of prices but you have to have product knowledge.

You have to understand the psychology of sales.

Why do people say yes?

How to get people to say yes or to purchase something but it's also building a bond with the audience.

It's about creating likability.

It's about sometimes entertaining folks.

It's creating a feeling of excitement in a room or you know at a land auction to balance between art and science.

(soft music) I believe we're really not in the auction business.

We are in the people business for both of our businesses.

Whether we're selling a farm or we're raising money for a nonprofit, a big part of our job is to tell a story of why this particular either piece of real estate or this item is of significance.

- [Kristine] The years have gone quickly.

We've grown a lot, we've served many clients but I would've never dreamt that I would be serving clients across the world at times, or whether it's right here at our local convention center raising money for our hospital.

I'm just so grateful.

- There they are, coming outta Gate 29.

What do you give for 'em?

♪ There was a boy from Arkansas ♪ ♪ Who wouldn't listen to his ma ♪ ♪ When she told him he should go to school ♪ ♪ He'd sneak away in the afternoon ♪ ♪ Take a little walk and pretty soon ♪ ♪ He would wind up at the local auction barn ♪ - [Dale] Ebner always said talking about aides, he said, "Tell you Dale" he said, "Life is just like a roll of toilet paper.

The closer you get to the end the faster it goes," which is true.

And talking about the kids taking over the business, it's wonderful.

Grace and I are so lucky, tremendously lucky to have children that want to be auctioneers and knowing that they love the business is just, to me it's amazing.

We're so darn lucky.

♪ 45 dollar bid it now a 50 dollar 50 ♪ ♪ Will you gimmie 50 make it 50 ♪ ♪ Bidin' it on a 50 dollar will you gimmie 50 ♪ ♪ Who'll bid a 50 dollar bid?

♪ 50 dollar bid it now, 55, will you gimmie 55 ♪ ♪ To make it a 55 to bid at 55 ♪ Sold that hog for a 50 dollar bill ♪ - [Narrator] Postcards is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies, Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Wyndham, Minnesota.

On the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails, and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

The Lake Region Arts Council's Arts calendar, an arts and cultural heritage funded digital calendar showcasing upcoming art events and opportunities for artists in West Central Minnesota.

On the web at lrac4calendar.org.

Playing today's new music plus your favorite hits, 96.7kram.

Online at 967kram.com.

(peaceful rhythmic music)