Auctions and Frozen Brick Chili
by Bryce Martin

Uncle Noah loved an auction, especially when it involved livestock. He enjoyed judging the quality of a good animal, knowing its worth and usefulness on the farm, and what price it should bring on the local market. It was a form of “horse trading” from bygone days, where you tried to steal a bargain if you could.
 
I tagged along at one auction and found it exciting; the farm animals paraded to the forefront under bright lights and scrubbed-up farmers in their cleanest duds and – best of all – the auctioneer.
 
I had seen movies where someone not familiar with auction protocol had rubbed their ear or made some innocent gesture and the auctioneer took it as a bid. I didn’t want that to happen to me, so, not knowing the rules, I sat on my hands and avoided any sudden eye or head movements.
 
Noah confided he had developed a certain strategy over the years.
 
“Bid strong from the go. You’ll have everyone afraid of you after that when something comes up you really want.”
 
Noah worked most of his later years as a laborer for Freeto Construction, a general construction outfit that built roads, bridges and buildings in the four-state region.
 
During a stretch when he was doing some road work at Range Line in Joplin, he stopped in regularly at Fred and Red’s Café on South Main.
 
“Those regulars come in and all you hear is, ‘Gimme a bowl of red.’ All they got to do is say the word ‘red’ and the waitress has a bowl of chili in front of them in nothin’ flat.”
 
The place specialized in incredibly great chili. A treat was to take home a frozen brick of the stuff to heat up and serve on just the right chilly evening. 
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