UPDATED: Bloomfield Merry-Go-Round auction won by man on a mission to keep it in Bloomfield

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

UPDATE as of 1 p.m. Thursday: The auction has ended with a high bid of $2,500, placed by Brian Pearson backed by the support of numerous individuals who contributed through a GoFundMe account. Pearson says the Merry-Go-Round stays in Bloomfield. No further information is available at this time.


Like many other families in the Bloomfield area, Brian Pearson says he played on this little Merry-Go-Round as a child and a generation later, his son took a ride. Isaac Lee Pearson is pictured above on the coin-operated Merry-Go-Round that Pearson is trying to save. The Merry-Go-Round was located at the entrance to Bloomfield's IGA grocery store. (Courtesy of Brian Pearson)

There's good news and bad news in an effort to rescue a Merry-Go-Round off an auction block and keep it in a public place in Bloomfield.

For background information, see previous story on gcdailyworld.com by clicking Man on a mission to save Merry-Go-Round for Bloomfield.

The good news is the community support that Brian Pearson says he's received since he took up the cause and since a story was posted on the Greene County Daily World's website and Facebook page.

As the word spread, the community reacted by pledging contributions to help pay for the Merry-Go-Round, $5, $10, $20 and some pledged $100 or more.

A couple of days ago, the total contributions were a little more than $100.

By around 8 p.m. Wednesday, the total amount of money raised had reached an impressive $1,440.

Pearson said it touched his heart that others saw the value of the Merry-Go-Round and were willing to chip in.

"This is why I love this little town," said Pearson who wanted to thank everyone who made a donation and everyone who helped spread the word.

As people pledged their support and the total grew, Pearson placed appropriate bids on the Merry-Go Round. There was a flurry of bidding on Tuesday, then with Pearson's bid the top bid, it stalled out at $800.

On Wednesday afternoon, a little bidding war began anew and the high bid raised to $900, then $1,000 and it's gone up from there.

So the bad news is that another bidder currently (as of 9 p.m. Wednesday) has placed the high bid of $1,800 and Pearson is about tapped out.

He says he can only bid as high as the amount of contributions in the GoFundMe account plus the cash on hand that he can pledge, and it appears the competing bidder is not backing away and could win the auction.

Pearson says he has not actively solicited help from any business, organization or individual in the Bloomfield area, but if one were to swoop in and pledge a larger amount or even register on the auction site, place a bid and win the auction then keep the Merry-Go-Round in a public place in Bloomfield, he would not be disappointed.

"If they were to keep it somewhere where everyone could enjoy this piece of Bloomfield history, then the money that's been contributed in the GoFundMe account could be used to help pay for the Merry-Go-Round," said Pearson.

To pledge a contribution to the GoFundMe account "Save Bloomfield's Merry-Go-Round," visit http://www.gofundme.com/vbml5s online.

The auction is scheduled to end at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday - at a time when Pearson will be working his normal job and will probably not be able to take calls or place last-minute bids.

To watch the auction online, go to https://grafeauction.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=2341&aid=96565&lid=2520...

Note: For those watching the auction site, the names of bidders show only initials with asteriks so as not to reveal the identity of bidders. Pearson's bids will show up as "S****n" and a competing bidder showing as "B****n" is not Pearson.

Pearson says he would welcome help from anyone in the community who would like to make a donation or has an idea about saving this piece of Bloomfield history.

Pearson can be reached by phone at 812-384-4738 after 3:15 p.m., or contacted on Facebook at www.facebook.com/brianpearson74 or on Twitter at BrianPearson93.

(Any phone contact with Pearson, due to his employment, should be made Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.)

Comments
View 11 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • I hope that this piece of history does stay in Bloomfield. It has been there for years. Good luck....

    -- Posted by Worthingtonresident on Wed, May 27, 2015, at 11:15 PM
  • The current bid ( at 6:43 am ) is $1,900.00 with the GoFundMe donations at $1,620.00.

    -- Posted by larrywanders on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 6:44 AM
  • PLUS 25% IN FEES AND TAXES. This is a cool cause and I applaud the gentleman for trying the raise the money but outside of this, I wouldn't help them sell out. They are leaving the store bare boned for a reason. Shame on them.

    -- Posted by EvenPar76 on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 8:29 AM
  • Who owns this? You would have thought that they would have donated it to the town. Sad that it all comes down to money.

    -- Posted by happygirl14 on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 9:37 AM
  • I certainly don't want the man who closed the store to sell out and make any money either. Especially since his business prowess put our community in such a lurch.

    Neither do I want to see that little merry go round leave.

    The memories I have are only a few of how many hundreds of people over the years.

    Give a few bucks if you can and help this community hang on to something bigger than yourselves.

    It is a no lose proposition. If Brian wins the

    auction, it stays,if he doesn't win, he stated last night that he would refund all donations.

    -- Posted by C&D on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 10:14 AM
  • Did he win?

    -- Posted by happygirl14 on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 10:55 AM
  • It is lot 144. The auction is currently selling lot 55 or somewhere close.

    He does have the current high bid.

    -- Posted by C&D on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 11:21 AM
  • Awesome!!! It needs to be moved indoors to keep it from getting torn up. Who has a place for it. Library?

    -- Posted by happygirl14 on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 1:32 PM
  • Don't knock the store owner who had to close down. I'm sure he labored over it for a long time and tried to explore various avenues some of them maybe being pricing to keep that place open.

    -- Posted by catpowered on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 1:37 PM
  • Has he admitted to doing so? Is there a list of what he was not authorized to sell?

    -- Posted by catpowered on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 2:45 PM
  • I think the store owner should have kept the carousel with the store instead of selling it on an auction site. The previous owners included it in the sale of the IGA. BUT I feel the Newest owners were trying to sell it to spite Bloomfield. They blamed the town for the store having to close. When it was their own fault for jacking up prices and changing things that were perfectly fine the way they were. It should have been their mission to sell products especially when we have Rulers in town. Anyways, I think it is awesome that this man raised enough funds to keep this in our town!!! It has been here as long as I can remember!

    -- Posted by AMyers8289 on Thu, May 28, 2015, at 10:32 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: