by Joe Bollig
joe.bollig@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Maybe you don’t really need a bank teller cage from the late 1800s, or a running 1946 Chevy pickup with over 30,000 miles or vintage polo gear — but if you had the spare dead presidents, wouldn’t it be so cool to have them?
Yes. Yes, it would
Well, if you’ve got the cash and a hankering for something special, you’re in luck. Morning Glory Estate Sales, a ministry of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, will hold its first-ever high-end online auction of an estate from Nov. 27 to Dec. 10.
And remember, Christmas is coming. Nobody needs another ugly sweater or popcorn maker. There’s little danger of someone returning their antique Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad conductor’s step stool in January.
Morning Glory Estate Sales, a ministry of Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas, will hold its first-ever high-end online auction of an estate from Nov. 27 to Dec. 10. Unique offerings such as a yard cart (above) are up for bidding in this online auction.
The estate is that of the Sabatini family of Topeka. Frank Sabatini died in 2021. His wife Alice preceded him in death in 1997, after which he married Judith Lennox.
For more than 55 years, the family accumulated all sorts of things at their 40-acre homestead and much will be auctioned — from simple items like a yard cart to the unusual such as roof tiles from the Danforth Chapel at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
The Sabatinis, devout Catholics, wanted to benefit Catholic Charities when they liquidated their estate.
Morning Glory was begun about a year ago, and held its first sale last March, said Ginger Jackson, manager of estate sales.
“[Catholic Charities] branched into online auctions recently,” said Jackson. “We mostly do in-home estate sales, but this was a different situation where they aren’t selling their house right away.”
The online auction format also gives them a national market for the really nice, valuable stuff — high-end fine art, including Western art, oil and watercolor paintings, prints, bronzes and statues.
“Morning Glory is a new social enterprise Catholic Charities launched as another way for us to make money,” said Jackson. “Forty percent of what we make from the estate sales goes to fund Catholic Charities programs.”
The online auction will consist of two parts.
Part one will go live online as a timed auction Nov. 27 to Dec. 10, where members of the public can bid on items from the Sabatini property outbuildings, main barn and grounds. Part two — the date of which has not been determined — will consist of the main house furniture, fine art, bronzes, statuary and a whole lot more. People can only bid on the part one items in the Nov. 27 to Dec. 10 auction.
Items that don’t sell at auction will go the Catholic Charities’ thrift store TurnStyles or the refugee resettlement program.
“People can bid against each other,” said Jackson. “People can go online. We’ll have a platform we’re building where they can find us easily, but they can also go to: estatesales.net.
“They’ll register to bid and then, they can look at our catalog. It will have each lot pictured, descriptions and estimated values for higher-value items. There will be an opening bid to start from and it will build from there.”
There are two ways to participate online.
You find find the auction online here.
Or you can participate in the auction by going online to: catholiccharitiesks.org/morning-glory. This online address will become active on Nov. 27.
For information, call Jackson at (913) 433-2100 or send an email to: gjackson@catholiccharitiesks.org.
