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Dennis Henrichs – Auctioneer and Friend of Cattlemen
By LaRayne Meyer
If I can get a smile on their faces, I can get in their pocketbooks.” That’s the modus operandi of Beatrice auctioneer Dennis Henrichs. With the personality of a stand-up comic, the enticing power of a snake charmer and the salesmanship of a world-class auctioneer, Henrichs gets people to participate.
That was the case at the recent Nebraska Cattlemen’s convention in Kearney where the Political Action Committee (PAC) auction, chanted by Henrichs, brought in a record $8,000.
Henrichs set no ground rules for the auction. “I like to have fun,” he says, “and I usually stop just before I stick my foot in my mouth.”
Henrichs has had plenty of practice in the auction trade as the co-manager of Beatrice 77 Livestock Auction, located – predictably – on North Highway 77 at Beatrice. The community is home to Henrichs and his wife, Chris.
The salebarn is owned by Tri-Corp, Inc., and has been doing business as Beatrice 77 Livestock Auction since 1994. Henrichs and his partner, Rick Jurgens, began crying auctions in 1976 when the two completed training, in tandem, at the World Wide College of Auctioneering at Mason City, Iowa. The possibilities for being involved in auctioneering for Henrichs and Jurgens was encouraged by the previous owners of the salebarn who took the two men by the hand, Henrichs says, and gave the two a boost in the right direction.
“It’s fortunate to have someone to start you in the auctioneering business,” Henrichs says, as is the case with other ag-related enterprises, whether it’s in auctioneering, the cattle business or farming, and whether that encouragement is in the form of labor, a helping hand or financial assistance.
The Beatrice 77 partnership typically presides over 20-25 fundraisers yearly in addition to regular auctions.
“We do lots of benefits, and you have to have fun at them. The only way to get people involved is if they enjoy where they are, what they’re doing and being part of the fundraising,” Henrichs says.
Today, the salebarn features feeder cattle, and cull cows and bulls through its ring, with regular cattle sales on Monday and feeder pig sales on Tuesday. The corporation also operates a hog buying station by Lynch, Monday through Friday. Sales are listed on the livestock auction’s Web site at http://www.beatrice77.com.
In addition to livestock sales, Beatrice 77 Livestock Auction features a “great nucleus of employees,” Henrichs says, and those employees cannot be mentioned without including Tonia Mannschreck, office manager and the company’s right-hand woman. A farm girl at heart, it’s Mannschreck who keeps contacts firm and positive with cattle producers, buyers and farmers.
Henrichs and Jurgens work alongside that team of employees, grabbing hold of the end of a shovel when it’s time to clean holding pens after livestock sales and do other work around the salebarn. “I don’t ask my employees to do anything I haven’t done myself,” Henrichs says.
Henrichs’ connection with the Nebraska Cattlemen association began in 2005 when members assisted at the salebarn, and Henrichs and Jurgens, in turn, offered their help in the way of education and services at Nebraska Cattlemen meetings. They made a bond at that point, and Henrichs appreciated the opportunities the partnership has offered, plus the friendliness and outgoing nature of Nebraska Cattlemen members.
And that’s no auctioneer’s joke. Y By LaRayne Meyer, a freelance writer from Pilger.
SIDEBAR:
Cable Guy in
Salebarn Business
Corporate owners of Beatrice 77 Livestock Auction include Dan Whitney, better known professionally as Larry the Cable Guy. A national comedian with a “git-r-done” attitude, Dan came on board as an investor two years ago. Since that time he has been known to advertise the salebarn by wearing a camouflage hat with the salebarn’s Beatrice 77 logo on the front and red Husker N’s on the side. The addition of the Nebraska football logos expresses both Dan’s interest in football and Henrichs’ having been a scholarship player at UN-L during the 1971-73 seasons. The Beatrice 77 Livestock Auction hats have been in demand across the United States and into Canada.
At the November Nebraska Cattlemen’s convention in Kearney, 21 hats – contributed by the Beatrice 77 Livestock Auction and signed by Larry the Cable Guy – were sold at the PAC auction, raising $2,350 in the process.
The salebarn was recently given a boost in national recognition when Dan, as Larry the Cable Guy, wore the Beatrice 77 hat on a 60 Minutes segment, plus in spots on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Live with Regis and Kelly.
The evening that the 60 Minutes segment aired, Dennis Henrichs received 16 phone calls from friends along with numerous emails asking if he’d seen the show.
Although Dan, who works out of New York, is a corporate owner of Beatrice 77 Livestock Auction, he leaves the “git-r-done” to the people back in Nebraska.
Graphics Used:
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Caption: Denny Henrichs takes bids from the crowd at the NC Convention Annual Banquet where his humor and expertise helped to raise $6,925 for the NC PAC.
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Caption: NC staff Drew Gaffney holds up a Beatrice 77 Livestock hat signed by Larry the Cable Guy that was auctioned off – again and again – to benefit the NC PAC. Denny Henrichs is pictured in the background calling the auction. Beatrice 77 Livestock will be providing each of the winning bidders with a signed hat.
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Caption: Denny was not the only one to get into the swing of things at the NC R&EF auction NC staff Dave Doeschot, in well-crafted leather vaquero cape and hat, encourages the crowd during the auction. Dave and Denny played off one another’s comments throughout most of the auction, adding to the fun.
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