Rare hockey cards to hit the auction block for Mennonite Central Committee
Hockey cards that will help raise money for MCC include two Bobby Orr rookie cards
Randy Long sees a lot of donations come through the Mennonite Central Committee thrift store in Elmira.
He's the business manager there, and donations often include clothes, housewares and toys.
There are occasionally some unusual items, but there was a buzz the day retired Elmira businessman Lloyd Martin walked in with a bunch of shoe boxes with more than 2,000 hockey cards inside.
"I started looking through and became excited very quickly," Long said.
Almost right away, Long spotted two rookie cards for Bobby Orr. Then, there were cards featuring Gordie Howe, Tony Esposito and even Don Cherry.
Martin explained he was downsizing and had asked his adult children if they wanted their hockey cards. They had all said no, so he donated them.
"I don't think they really knew exactly what was in there. They knew they were old hockey cards from when they were kids," Long said.
Auction in Elmira on March 16
Those cards will now be auctioned off to benefit the MCC and the work the global charity does.
The auction will be held March 16 at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira with the services of Jantzi Auctions Ltd.
They only have 175 tickets, but they can be purchased at the thrift store or, if there are any left, at the door the day of the auction.
Other items to hit the auction block will include a vintage hockey game and other hockey memorabilia.
Long said before there were hockey cards, in the 1930s and 1940s, companies like Quaker and Beehive would put 8x10 photos of hockey players in with their products. They have "quite a number" of those to auction off, too.
The Kitchener Sports Association (KSA) graded some of the cards and Long said some are worth between $50 and $2,000.
Listen to the interview with Randy Long:
'I was just kind of giddy'
One popular one could be the card for St. Jacob's born Darryl Sittler.
"He's local and most people in the area know that he's a local boy, so that's one that I'm excited about," Long said.
"It was so much fun when I first started going through them because I thought, OK, this is a collection that's worth spending some time on. I was just kind of giddy going through this kind of thing."
The MCC had a high profile auction in 2017 when it auctioned off a Maud Lewis painting that was found in the thrift store in New Hamburg. It ended up raising $45,000.
Long was asked what MCC would have to do to top the painting and the hockey cards.
"That's the beauty of the thrift stores. We never know. We're really dependent on the wonderful base of donors we have who are dedicated to MCC and the work we do," he said.
"Who knows? That's the next big mystery."
