More than 100 people brought items to have them appraised or get more information during the Collector's Crossroads Saturday. Appraisers Phil Davidson and Joan Johnson study a hand-tinted photograph of Mt. Rainier. - World Photo by Lou Sennick

NORTH BEND - Charleston resident Margery Whitmer sat on a folding chair at the North Bend High School multipurpose room, waiting.

And she waited and waited and waited.

Three items sat at her feet: a large, glass bottle covered with a wicker mesh and two paintings, one large and one small.

Whitmer, the office manager for Betty Kay Charters in Charleston, needed to get back to work.

But like many of the hundred or so people sitting around her at the Collectors’ Crossroads on Saturday morning, she had a long wait.

Sponsored by the Coos County Historical Society, Crossroads drew people from all over the Bay Area interested in collectibles and antiques. Vendors sold items ranging from jewelry to chamber pots. But most of the people attending were there to have one or more items appraised by former Coos County Historical Society Board member Phil Davison and other specialists.

About 20 feet from Whitmer, Lakeside residents Larry and Pat DeMuerichy also were waiting. To the right of Larry DeMuerichy was a painting chronicling the history of Carmel-By-The-Sea, Calif. Pat DeMuerichy held watch over a Victorian-era watercolor painting from a gallery in New York.

Behind the crowd containing the DeMuerichys and Whitmer stood Coos Bay residents Bill Kendrick and his wife, Joan. Bill Kendrick clutched a Civil War-era cavalry carbine.

“They told me this is the only time I can bring a gun to school,” Bill Kendrick said.

Joan Kendrick held a multicolored cloth bag containing a silver platter engraved with the name of one of her husband’s relatives.

Like Whitmer and the DeMuerichys, the Kendricks waited.  

Six people, seven items and one good cause.

Before the appraisals began, Davison and event coordinator Steve Greif discussed the ground rules to those waiting: Ticketholders (who paid up to $5 per appraised item) would be called up in the order they arrived. Price quotes could be in a range — a lower number might reflect the price of an item if sold to a dealer. A higher price might reflect its insured value.

One caveat, Davison stated:  “The value of anything is what somebody is willing to pay.”

After almost an hour wait, the DeMuerichys brought their items up for Davison’s review.

First up was the painting of Carmel-By-The-Sea. Davison looked it over, while the couple watched him. Larry DeMuerichy explained the details behind the painting. They both watched and waited.  

The results: The painting of Carmel was probably worth $100; the Victorian-era lithograph was not rare and worth about $300 to $400.

“I feel better having some idea of the value,” Larry DeMuerichy said after the appraisal.

The DeMuerichys were done and Whitmer continued to wait.  

“It’s so interesting to see things that people have,” she said.

Meanwhile, Bill and Joan Kendrick also waited for their turn. Bill Kendrick, a retired police officer from Sunnyvale, Calif., stood near the appraising table with the butt of the carbine resting on his foot, holding the barrel with his right hand. Joan Kendrick remained in the back of the room.

When it was his turn, Bill Kendrick walked up and placed the carbine on the table. Davison picked it up and turned it, looking at markings along the side of the carbine. The microphone in front of him picked up sentence fragments of the conversation between him and Kendrick. After a few minutes of talk, banter and discussion, Davison said the carbine was probably not from the Civil War. But, he added, more research was needed.

Joan Kendrick moved up to the table and stood next to her husband. She removed the silver platter and placed it in front of the team.

Davison held the platter in his hands.

“What a gorgeous piece,” he said.

After a few seconds, he announced that the platter was made from coin silver, sometime in the early 1800s. Its value — about $2,000.

While the results seemed to shock most of the people in the audience, Joan Kendrick just listened and smiled.

After the appraisal, she said she’d keep the piece out and continue to use it.

“If you can’t enjoy it, why have it?” she said.

After the Kendricks left, more items were evaluated: a wooden carving, ornamental baskets and jewelry.

Finally, after almost two hours of waiting, it was Whitmer’s turn at the table.  

Her first item was an Elton Bennett silk-screen print from the 1970s or 1980s, worth about $250, Davison said. Her second item, a hand-tinted photograph from Norman Edson featuring Mount Rainier isn’t worth much. In fact, the frame is worth the most — about $150. Her final item, the glass bottle, was used for wine storage in Italy, Davison said. It’s worth about $50.

Despite waiting nearly two hours to find out her items aren’t necessarily worth that much, Whitmer still had a smile on her face.

“It’s nice to know the value of things,” she said.  

The event brought in about $1,800 for the Historical Society’s education program, Greif said. The money raised will help the society continue to teach every fourth- and fifth-grader in Coos County and Reedsport about Native American culture and the historic aspects of coal mining, shipping and lumbering, he added.

For more information, those interested can call the Coos County Historical Society at 756-6320.