While meandering through organized piles of merchandise ranging from antiques and furniture to sporting equipment and home fixtures, Robert Fiereisen paused to closely analyze a wooden clock Saturday at the Creston Auction and Country Fair.

“I don’t really need it,” he said, placing the clock back on the ground before picking it back up a moment later. “But I don’t usually need anything I get here. Don’t mean I don’t want it.”

Fiereisen, of Big Arm, was among hundreds of attendees looking for diamonds in the rough amid the constant chatter of auctioneers as the event reached its second day.

The 45th annual Creston Auction and Country Fair continues today with sale of big-ticket items set to begin at noon. Ten-dollar bid tickets go on sale beginning at 9 a.m.

The merchandise offered at the auction was accumulated Friday as people turned over their possessions to be sold at the fundraiser for the Creston Fire Department that draws an average crowd of 7,000 people each year.

The sale began at 9 a.m. Saturday and was expected to continue until all merchandise was sold.

Daren Parnells said he came to the event in search of a boat, of which there were several.

After being outbid on a 10-foot aluminum boat, he switched roles from buyer to transporter. While he didn’t get what he came for, he said he was happy to shuttle items purchased by his wife to their vehicle.

 “Didn’t get what I wanted but at least someone’s happy,” he said, carrying a framed painting through the muddy parking lot. “It’s a good time all the same.”

Wade Maddux said he and a group of friends travel to Creston from Missoula each year for the auction in a tradition they started about eight years ago.

Despite the rainy weather, he said he’s noticed that more and more people appear to attend the event each year. He suspects the growth is connected with the longstanding success of the event and the growing popularity of television shows like the History Channel’s “American Pickers.”

“Just seems like more [people] are coming and there’s a better variety [of merchandise],” he said. “Nice to see we’re not the only ones who like junk.”

Not everyone came to buy or sell merchandise.

Just outside the gates of the auction, P.J. Hutchins leaned against a Chevrolet pickup truck with a napkin tucked in the front of his shirt.

“I come for the food,” he said, taking a bite of a brat. “I drive down here and I don’t always buy anything, but I always buy a brat.”

Proceeds from this year’s auction will be used to relocate a three-room, 28-foot-by-119-foot modular building from Bigfork School District to Creston’s Lake Blaine Fire Station.

The relocation is expected to cost $45,000, which includes setting up a concrete foundation, connecting utilities and putting a new roof on the building.