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auctioneer since 1968 He's master of the sale

June 9, 2007 12:35 am

By KELLY HANNON

In a sea of men wearing shorts, ball caps and T-shirts, Charles Nicholls stands out.

Trim and white-haired, Nicholls is wearing a crisp button-down shirt, khakis and a navy blazer. He appears unruffled by the heat or crowds at the Fredericksburg Auto Auction.

Thursday is for dealers only, and every 60 seconds or so another Ford, Honda or Chrysler rolls onto Lane 12, where Nicholls is presiding at the microphone.

The dealers run their hands along the car's body, opening and shutting doors. A few even kick tires.

Then it starts.

To an untrained ear, Nicholls' auctioneer "chatter" sounds like gibberish.

But the dealers understand. Hands dart into the air. Nicholls responds, digits flying, constantly gesturing between the dealers until one word is clear:

"Sold!" he calls, slapping a a length of hose on the dais like a gavel.

"When he picks up that microphone, it's like the last thing he's ever going to sell in your life," said John Nicholls, 40, Charles' son and fellow auctioneer at their family business in the Fredericksburg area, Nicholls Auction Marketing Group.

On Thursday, Nicholls, 65, sold dozens of cars.

But since he started his company in 1968, he has auctioned real estate, property, furniture, antiques and all kinds of bric-a-brac--even a golf course.

"I've always said you can sell anything at auction if you have a willing seller and a willing buyer," he said.

Nicholls loves what he does, and considers his job a blessing from God. But it's work that comes with high expectations.

"It's an awesome responsibility to have someone come and put their trust in you and turn over their estate, all of their possessions, their whole life," Nicholls said, "to conduct that auction in a manner that will bring honor to their life and their possessions."

On June 1, Nicholls passed leadership of his company to John, who assumed the title of company president.

But Nicholls isn't ready for retirement. He'll continue to auction a few days a week. That includes volunteering with a long list of charities, including the Rappahannock United Way, Youth for Tomorrow and private schools in the Fredericksburg and Richmond areas. He has helped them raise hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"He's done a wonderful job for us. One year he actually dressed up as King Tut," said Mickie Galik, resource development manager for the Rappahannock United Way.

"It's more than just an auction. It's entertainment."

Few forget working with Nicholls.

Christine Corbin, vice president at Motley's Auction & Realty Group in Richmond, helped Nicholls prepare for an antiques auction in downtown Fredericksburg several years ago.

Working with him was "a pleasure," she said.

"He listens to people, considers other people's viewpoints. That's a rare thing in this day and age," Corbin said. "That's probably why he's so successful at what he does. He's been willing to learn."

Nicholls found auctioneering by chance.

After graduating from R.E. Lee High School in Spotsylvania County, Nicholls got four part-time jobs, including one parking cars at the Fredericksburg Auto Auction.

Watching the auctioneers sell cars, he thought: "I could do this, too."

Nicholls trained at auction companies in Iowa and North Carolina before returning to Fredericksburg to create his company in 1968.

The entire family supported the business.

Nicholls married Jean in 1962. He spotted her at a softball game at James Monroe High School, where she was playing first base.

"I fell in love the first time I saw her," Nicholls said.

The couple spent most weekends shuttling up and down the East Coast for auctions, with Jean acting as Nicholls' assistant.

Jean even went into labor with their second child, Valerie, at an auction.

"He said she'd have to wait until the auction was over," said Valerie Parker, 32, laughing. The baby waited, and everything was sold.

Valerie and John Nicholls started working at age 5. They sold tickets, picked up trash and did whatever needed to be done, Parker said. "He definitely instilled in us the value of a day's work," she added.

As adults, John Nicholls joined the company as an auctioneer and Valerie Parker worked as an office manager until recently.

Nicholls gave his children the freedom to make mistakes, John Nicholls said.

"It's got to be difficult to let your child, as your business partner, learn and give them the responsibility and leeway to learn and make bad decisions, to know he's making a bad decision and will learn from that decision," John Nicholls said.

Nicholls learned from his children, too, when it came to advances in marketing and technology. But the business is still about people, Nicholls said. Auctions may sell things, but they are more about human beings. "The auction business is interaction. Sure, we do the faxes and e-mails, but you've still got to connect with that person, and we do," Nicholls said.

Auctioneering is a physical job, and Nicholls stays in shape by exercising three to four days a week and never straying far from a bottle of water. He has missed an auction only once in 40 years, because of laryngitis.

His regimen has propelled him to the heights of the profession. In 2006, he was inducted into the Virginia Auctioneer's Hall of Fame. In 2004 he was awarded the Bernie Hart Memorial Award from the National Automobile Auction Association, which is given for a lifetime of achievement.

Starting this summer, Nicholls will have more time with his three grandchildren, to fish and golf, visit Myrtle Beach and teach Sunday school at Spotswood Baptist Church, where is a trustee.

But his son doesn't expect him to stay out of the office. for long.

"He's the boss," John Nicholls said. "He just doesn't have the bills."