If you live in the Kalispell Montana area, and are ever looking for something to do on the second Saturday of June, you may want to explore the West Kootenai Auction near Rexford, Montana.
The auction is conducted by the West Kootenai's Amish Community. The location is about a two hour drive north of Kalispell. Not only was the destination of interest, but so was the journey. Once through Whitefish, route 93 passes through miles of lush forest. When you arrive in the quaint town of Eureka, you'll jump on highway 37 West, drive about 6 miles to the Koocanusa Bridge, go over the bridge and make a right. For the next 14 or so miles, you just follow the signs as you drive a curvy Montana Road to the auction site. For part of the ride you'll be able to see Lake Koocanusa which is a 90 mile long lake which flows over the Canadian border. Beautiful trip!
For the record, the location is so close to Canada that I received two "Welcome to Canada" text messages from Verizon. Don't worry, you're not in Canada and don't need your passport!
Once we got there, we were impressed by the variety of items for sale, and the well-run auction process. There were three auctions going on at the same time, one inside the furniture tent, one for quilts/wall hangings and one for the outside items.
So what type of items were for sale?
There were many beautiful handmade quilts which came from Amish communities all over the country. We watched the quilt auction for a while and the most expensive quilt that sold while we were watching garnered $900 and the least expensive item sold for $10. However, that was only representative of a very short time period. There were many quilts still available for purchase when we left, and I am sure, based on the quality of the craftsmanship, that there were many that sold for more than $1000.
Inside the large furniture tent were beds, dressers, benches, lamp stands, end tables, breakfast bars and more. To give you an idea of what the furniture looked like (since I neglected to get a photo), most items were made from huge trees. Lots of thick, sturdy, solid wood. There was no requirement that you take the items home that day if you won the bid. The facility offered to store them for a few months if needed until you could get up there and carry things home.
Outside the tents were many other items for sale. For example, this year they were selling three cabins. There was lumber for sale, fence posts and some equipment. And then there were three rows of miscellaneous items that were being auctioned off. From old sewing machines and washers/dryers to flowers and vegetables. There were bicycles, hand tools, bird houses and more.
Parking is free and there is no minimum and no reserve for items. Lunch is available as are soft drinks and bakery items (I understand the donuts were delicious!).
Bottom line: This was a wonderful way to spend the second Saturday in Spring. If you put it on your calendar now, you'll be all set for 2021!
For more information on the Kalispell area, feel free to contact me at 406-270-3667 or via email at kat@thehousekat.com.
Originally published at thehousekat.com.
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