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Auction Memories of September 11th 15 Years Ago

September 13, 2016

9-11-2016

Where were you that day?

September 11, 2001. Hard to believe it was 15 years ago yesterday, isn't it? Last night I watched restrospectives on TV looking back. You see those images...and you're taken right back to that beautiful blue sky Tuesday. How could this happen? We all knew what it meant. 15 years. Wow.

This morning I got to thinking...I wonder if there were machinery auctions scheduled that day? There had to be. So I zipped back into our Machinerypete.com files and sure enough I found a handful of farm machinery auctions on September 11, 2001. One was by my good friends at Henslin Auctions, Inc. (http://www.henslinauctions.com).  It was a small farm sale, nice equipment, including a Case IH 1680 combine. The sale was near Rose Lake, MN. This morning I called auctioneer LaDon Henslin with Henslin Auctioneers to ask what he remembered about that day 15 years ago.

"I remember it like was yesterday," Henslin told me this morning. "We were at the sale and we started to get some calls. Someone told me America is under attack."

Know we have to remember, 15 years ago cell phones were quite different, they weren't the smart phones / internet machines they are now. Kids now days I'm sure have trouble picturing this. Also the internet was very young 15 years ago in 2001. Information still sort of trickled in, even important new stories. And if recall that horrific day, even watching the news live on TV it took some time for the facts to become known.

Meanwhile, back at the auction in Rose Lake, MN.

"What do you do," said Henslin. "We had quite a large crowd there already. We decided to have the sale. We got along fine. But the next day, September 12, 2001, we had a small hobby farm auction near Raymond, MN and by then everyone really felt the effects. There was a heaviness in the air. We decided to have that auction later on."

LaDon Henslin's son Allen, in college at the time, remembers long gas lines in western Minnesota on the day after, September 12, 2001.

15 years ago. Wow.

Where were you that day? Out in the field? In the combine cab? How did you find out the dreadful news? I've talked with quite a few folks that were at Husker Harvest Days show in Nebraska. They tell of an erie feel that settled in. I can't imagine.

I was at an event on the eastern edge of the twin cities here in Minnesota the morning of September 11, 2001. All I wanted to do all day was to get home and hug our two daughters, then ages 10 and 8. I made it home by late afternoon as the kids got home from school. We said a prayer.

15 years and 1 day later. The world still needs our prayers.

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