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Stokes Auction, Inc., at Port Orchard, Washington

© Jerri Brooker

Internet auction sites aren't the only ones doing well in the marketplace today. Real live auctioneers and their real live auctions have made a place for themselves in our economy, one in particular in Port Orchard across the bay from Bremerton, Washington.

Twenty-five years ago I met an auctioneer, Larry Stokes, while I was attending college in Bremerton, Washington. The sing-song call of an auctioneer's voice has always intrigued me. So has the business of auctioning. It didn't take me long to talk with Larry about his business.

At the time I was writing for a weekly newspaper, the Kitsap Journal in Silverdale, and wrote an article about Bremerton auctioneer Larry Stokes, his family and his auction business: Stokes Auction Service. He and his family had big plans for his business; I was excited for them. I had never glimpsed at the workings of an auctioneer's business; it was intriguing to watch the process and learn about his craft. I was sure he'd be a big success; his business was already taking off back then.

When I met the Stokes family they were in Bremerton. Then one day recently it finally clicked that a place I had been passing in my travels on Highway 16 by Port Orchard might be the current site of Larry's successful business. He mentioned in my 1975 article that he and his wife had their eye on a farm in Port Orchard he'd like to buy for his business site. It suddenly occurred to me that this was probably the place he discussed way back then. So I got on the Internet, looked up Larry's business, and found out it IS his home and business site. I called him, and we talked about business changes since our 1975 interview.

His business is located beside Highway 16 on the way to Bremerton from Tacoma. He bought his current business and homestead in 1975. It was an old farm he remodeled; the barns were built in 1907. The Stokes demolished the farmhouse and built it from scratch to resemble the old house.

When Larry started the business he told me, "A man has to have his family behind him to succeed. Stokes Auction Service (now Stokes Auction, Inc.) is the six of us." Larry and his wife, Shirley, had two sons, Jeff and Paul and two daughters, LeAnn and Jackie. They were all involved in working the family business at that time; they all still keep abreast of the business and are involved one way or another.

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