Well it's one for the money, two for the show, Blago's items go, go, go
After a three-way bidding war, Rod Blagojevich's life-size Elvis statue sold for $20,500 Thursday at an auction in the parking lot of Boyer-Rosene Moving & Storage in Arlington Heights.
The winning bidder, Keith Rich, owner of Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, said he plans to give the statue to his mother, Betty, as a present.
"She's a huge Elvis fan," he said, adding that he didn't yet tell his wife about his pricey purchase. "We're not Blagojevich fans. That had nothing to do with the reason we're here."
Blagojevich was the reason for the auction, however.
The storage company auctioned off the former governor's possessions Thursday after Friends of Blagojevich, which rented storage space there starting in 2002 when Blagojevich was a state representative, failed to pay its bill.
CFO Joe Saverino wouldn't reveal the exact amount owed but said it was "tens of thousands dollars." After years without a payment and repeated failed attempts to get a response from the campaign group or Blagojevich, auction proceedings began.
The sale of the Elvis statue and the contents of six 7-by-7-by-5-foot wooden crates netted more than $30,000. Every penny of it is being donated to Children's Memorial Hospital, Saverino said.
About 80 people - some collectors and some curiosity seekers - bid on Blagojevich's office furniture, VHS videotapes, campaign items, legal files, old computers, miscellaneous paperwork, law books, framed photographs and awards Blagojevich received for "political leadership."
The items that fetched the most money, however, were Blagojevich's Elvis Presley memorabilia.
Elvis fans from across the suburbs turned out to bid on the items. A framed autographed Elvis photo collage, signed by "The King," went for $1,650.
Most buyers were like Joel King of Zion and John Cook of Round Lake, who paid $45 for a small unopened box. When they opened it, they found old newspapers, stacks of "Registration Audit Reports" and Blagojevich campaign sponges, stickers and pins.
"I think I paid about $1 a pin," King said. "For the novelty of it, why not?"
Jodi Russo of Itasca bid $150 to win a framed picture of the 1994 Illinois House of Representatives, featuring Rod Blagojevich seated in the front.
"I'm going to put it in my garage," she said, laughing.
Ava Barcelona of Chicago spent $375 on a neon sign that says "Governor Blagojevich," which she plans to hang in her house in Indiana.
"I just like history," she said.
Bill O'Neill of Elgin bid $600 to win the framed photo of Abraham Lincoln that used to hang in Blagojevich's office. The item drew chuckles from bidders, as they recalled U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's saying Lincoln would "roll over in his grave" if he knew about Blagojevich's behavior.
On Tuesday, the former governor was convicted of making false statements to the FBI and is set to be retried on corruption charges.
The auction's party-like setting featured three Elvis Presley impersonators singing songs like "A Little Less Conversation" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" while people dined on barbecued burgers and hot dogs in the sweltering heat.
The seven storage crates were opened one by one, and the items were auctioned one at a time. People who stayed until the end of the four-hour auction were given a free "Governor Blagojevich, Getting Things Done for the People 2006" campaign yard sign.
Businessman J.R. Bramlett of Orland Park, who says he used to mow the lawn at Elvis' Graceland home, bought one entire wooden crate for $1,000. He was one of the three people involved in the bidding war for the Elvis statue and went up to $20,000 before stopping. The other bidder was Chuck Blankenship of Itasca.
"You can buy the same statue online for $600," Blankenship said. "But I'm a collector. I got a whole lot of other things today, including the governor's desk."
Shelley Hanson of Houston, Texas, in town to visit a friend in Arlington Heights, didn't buy anything but enjoyed witnessing "a little bit of history."
"This is hysterical," she said.
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