Meet the Prest -- He even sold cattle on Parliament Hill
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What is the craziest thing that has happened to you while auctioneering? "I got bit by a dog. That was before the sale started. I was walking across the yard and it came up and bit me and ripped up my pants."
How would your friends describe you? "They would describe me as a very intelligent man." (laughs) "And say that I have no money."
What is the best decision you have ever made on your farm? "Getting married and having a family. I wouldn’t be doing it if I was by myself."
If you weren’t a farmer or auctioneer, what would you be? "I’d probably be a lawyer or a judge, because I can argue with people and when I bang that hammer it’s all over."
What is so great about the Ottawa valley? "The people. They are good, honest, down-to-earth people to work with."
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By Kylie Fox
A tiny wooden chair sits atop the kitchen cupboards in auctioneer Preston Cull’s comfortable country home in Douglas in Renfrew County.
Cull points to it as he describes how he got into the auctioneering business.
"That was the first thing I ever sold," he says.
It was at the Frosty Fun Fair in Douglas back in February of 1984. After years of joining his dad at sales, he had decided to get into auctioneering as a hobby.
It was a charity sale and Cull only had to sell a few items. But that doesn’t make that first sell any less important. Especially considering who bought it.
His mother.
"She was my first customer," Cull says, laughing.
That first sale at age 22 has since turned into 25 successful years in the auctioneering business. Now at 47, Cull holds 20 to 25 auctions a year, while maintaining his own farm with dairy and beef cattle. He maintains he’s still one of the youngest auctioneers in the business.
"We’re busy all the time," says Cull. "If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it."
An appreciation night and barn dance will be held at Cull’s family farm on June 27
th to celebrate 25 years in business. Cull is asking attendees to consider making a donation to help the Renfrew Hospital raise money to purchase a CT Scanner.A small team of people helps Cull run his business, including his wife Terry and his sister-in-law Linda, who have been with him for 18 and 25 years respectively. The sales range from farm auctions and estate sales to cattle and machinery sales across the Ottawa valley. They are often held on weekends, and can last from one to 10 hours.
Starting out the business was a challenge, says Cull, but because he still worked on the farm, he wasn’t entirely dependent on auctioneering.
"But as time goes on more people get to hear you and get to know you, and if they like you they will hire you."
But there were some bumps along the road.
"One sale was bad," he says. "It was old and more or less junky stuff, and I was green."
There was a small turnout, items weren’t selling for much and a seller, who wasn’t impressed, put a stop to the sale. "It was a learning experience for me," says Cull. "And it never happened again."
Among his career highlights, he has held a three-day sale for a general store in Calabogie, and a 12-hour sale at an old farm homestead. He was involved in a BSE demonstration on Parliament Hill in 2003, where he sold five live cattle in front of the Parliament buildings to show the government how poor beef prices were.
"Sold!," he shouted, while standing on hay bales on Wellington Street. "To Jean Chretien!" And the crowd that gathered tightly around him roared with laughter.
In 2004, he organized a rally to encourage Ontario farmers to create one united front modeled after Quebec’s Union of Agricultural Producers. There was a huge turn out with several hundred farmers packed into the Opeonga high school gymnasium, but one voice never materialized.
"It can go down in the history books that this guy tried, and it didn’t succeed, but it was worth the effort," says Cull. "I’ll try anything once."
When asked what one word would describe his entire 25 years in business, Cull and his wife paused and considered the question.
"Good," he says. "Interesting," his wife Terry adds.
"We have met a lot of good people out there, and the business has been good to us," says Cull.
While 25 years in business is a big milestone in itself, Cull is hoping for many more to come. "I need 25 more years before I can retire," he laughs.