Potato auction scores big in Trenary

What’s happening: The 72nd Annual Trenary Potato Auction Wheelbarrow Push raised more than $6,200 for the local little league team on Sunday, October 19. The potato auction is the longest-running fundraising event in Alger County and one of the longest-continuously running events in the Upper Peninsula. The auction was split for the last time between the two bars in Trenary — the Trenary Tavern and the Silver Dollar. The Silver Dollar has sold and will be closing for good by November. More than 300 people attended the auction.

Baseball and potatoes: While the root vegetable and the sport may not have any direct correlation, they are forever entwined in Trenary with the help of a bet and a wheelbarrow. Decades ago, it was decided the loser in a bet about the World Series would be forced to push a wheelbarrow full of potatoes from the Aho family farm to the front door of the Trenary Tavern, roughly three-quarters of a mile. Not wanting to return the potatoes to the farm, they auctioned them off for a fun night at the bar. When they recreated the bet the next year, locals suggested turning it into a fundraiser. This year’s wheelbarrow pusher was Trenary’s own Jake Aho. He is one of the few former Little League players to push at the event, recording one of the fastest five times in potato auction history, running the course in 6:07. 

What they’re saying: “It’s like the pinnacle of events in Trenary. You’re not a true native son until you push the wheelbarrow,” Aho said. “I guess it’s like the circle of life, right? It came around full circle.”

What’s next: Funds raised this year will be used to replace the left field fence. A new scoreboard was purchased last year and is set to be installed before winter.