Estate auction diverse

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jul 8, 2005 by Ann Marie Bush Capital-Journal

LIFETIME OF ITEMS

ESTATE AUCTION

Newell: Arthur E. "Bud" Newell's estate will be auctioned off this weekend.

- Location: Serenata Farms, 1895 E. 56th Road at Big Springs

- Times: 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

- Up for auction: Antique John Deere tractors and parts, horse- drawn equipment, tools, office furniture and equipment

- For information: www.simnittauction.com or (785) 272-2092

ANN MARIE BUSH/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Auctions By: Simnitt Bros., of Topeka, is preparing Arthur E. "Bud" Newell's estate auction. Newell, who died in January, owned several businesses, including Serenata Farms School of Equestrian Arts.

Antique tractors are among the many things being auctioned off this weekend during Newell's estate sale.

Arthur E. "Bud" Newell

died in January

By Ann Marie Bush

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

BIG SPRINGS --- Arthur E. "Bud" Newell loved collecting things during his lifetime.

He collected John Deere tractors and parts, horse-drawn equipment, tools and art.

Although his daughter Kim Mertz, of Manhattan, knew of the habit, she had no idea of the magnitude until she started going through his things to prepare for an estate auction.

"He had a real love for anything rural," Mertz said Wednesday while preparing for the auction that will take place this weekend. "I don't know that I'll ever know anybody like him. He was an inventor. He was a collector. He had a lot of sides to him."

Newell, who died in January at the age of 71, was born in Topeka to Arthur Robert and Juanita Elizabeth Newell. He attended college at Kansas State University and then enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1954.

Returning to Topeka after his discharge, Newell began a career in sales with a pharmaceutical company. In 1973, he incorporated his own business, Bud Newell and Associates Inc. In 1985, he built a large cedar office complex in Big Springs on grounds that bear remnants of Oregon Trail wagon tracks.

Newell operated an Oregon Trail adventure company on the property, which offered entertainment, shows and history lessons, and Serenata Farms School of Equestrian Arts, which offered therapy services for disabled children. Classes at the school were canceled in February, Newell's daughter said.

Newell was also an inventor, developing Popular Mechanics Multi- Purpose Lubricant, a leg exerciser to help after knee replacement, a more sterile surgical drape and the Med-Bed and a modular medical rescue unit for the John Deere Gator.

The auction, which will be 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, will feature antique tractors and horse-drawn equipment, collectibles, antique trucks and cars, equipment, guns, art, dishes, office equipment, furniture, appliances, decorations and exercise equipment.

"We have a lot of unusual horse-drawn equipment," said Darrell Simnitt, of Auctions By: Simnitt Bros., of Topeka, which is conducting the auction. "This man was very in-depth with several different things."

Michael Flory and Jim Kearney, of Coldwell Banker McGrew in Lawrence, said Newell's property --- Serenata Farms --- also is for sale. The listing price is $1.295 million. The property, which is approximately 215 acres, includes two single-family residences, an office complex with a one-bedroom apartment, a Morton indoor arena building with additional stables, two additional Morton buildings, several ponds and storage areas.