Thursday, January 27, 2011

Hotel lobby provides backdrop for steer auction

Amid the rhythmic chatter of auctioneer Wayne Jordan and occasional shouts from bidders, one spectator at the Plaza Hotel could hear the echoes of her youth. The sale of a prize steer by Haughton Ranch in the hotel lobby Wednesday afternoon as a marketing stunt and nod to history went off without a hitch. Norman was calm and co-operative and left only smiles from spectators in his wake. The winning bidder, Armstrong's Scott Innes, paid a premium price in the lobby festooned with cowboy and western art from the Horse Barn. The idea came from Tina Lange, a city councillor and part owner of the Plaza Heritage Hotel who was sporting six guns at her side - with a UPC on the butt (the gun, not her jeans). She was inspired by a photograph in the Plaza lobby from the sale of a champion bull in 1956, attended by the mayor, ranchers and dignitaries. And the little girl who snuck out of school 55 years ago to see it all. "I went to school and found a way to leave school," Ellen Smailes said...more

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