Andrew auctioneer recognized for 60 years in the ring

It was the mid 1950s and a young Julian Lubianisky was wandering around a farm auction sale, something he was quite fond of doing.

Word had gotten out that the young Lubianisky had a good eye for the evaluation of what was being sold.

So at this auction, the auctioneer found himself short of staff and asked Julian to take the mic and sell a few items.

Following a moderately successful debut, several people complimented him for the job he had done and suggested he might want to take up auctioneering as a profession.

He decided to give it a try and in 1959, he graduated from the prestigious Reisch American School of Auctioneering in Masonville, Iowa.

The 84-year-old Andrew resident was recently awarded a special plaque to recognize 60 years in the auctioneering business by the Auctioneers’ Association of Alberta at their 2020 convention.

He started his sales career in the area around Luseland, Saskatchewan and, after graduating, continued to sell in that area.

“I got started with a group of old auctioneers and one day they needed my help and they started me right out calling,” Lubianisky recalled. “I didn’t have a clue but I listened and worked hard.”

“At the time I went to Iowa it was the only auctioneering program in the world and it lasted six weeks.”

He worked with two auctioneers in Saskatchewan after graduation and as they got ill and eventually retired, Lubianisky took over the business.

During his long career he specialized primarily in farm auctions, but also did estate auctions and close-out auctions.

He worked around Luseland, which is straight east of Provost, Alberta.

“Because I was doing sales in both provinces I had to be licenced in both provinces,” he said. “You could have a few sales a week or sometimes maybe none. Summer was always the busiest season, but your volume of sales was based on how well you sold.”

He slowly expanded into Alberta, eventually running operations in Vegreville and later, Willingdon. It was at Willingdon, where he learned about the small community of Andrew, where he decided to spend his retirement years.

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“The consignors were always watching,” he said. “If they saw you making good money on the items then they want you to sell their items.”

He said the small sales are no different from the big ones.

“You have to make the most sales and people will want you to conduct their farm sale or estate auction.”

Lubianisky states he was one of the first auctioneers to  start selling houses at the same time he sold the rest of the farm or estate.

“I started selling the real estate in the mid 1960s,” he said. “The first one sold for more than its estimate and after that people came to me and I sold about half a dozen homes fairly quickly.”

When he set up his Lakeland Auctions, he said he had a staff of about 10 to 12 people.

“You have to have two to three auctioneers and it also depends on how long the sale lasts,” he said. “I remember one estate sale in Saskatchewan that went on for about 11 hours and we were selling. There was no stopping the sale … we just rotated through callers.”

As the auctioneer, he would meet with the consignor and go through their property.

“We’d tell them what the value of the items were and what they could expect,” he said. “I’ve sold lots of classic cars and trucks.”

He said he sold Cadillacs and a lot of Model T Fords.

“It varies depending on what the consignor had. No two sales are the same.”

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