Monies to help purchase Taser packages, surveillance equipment, training and pay OT
September 14, 2010
Amery Arcement
September 16, 2010
One man’s trash might often be another man’s treasure, but according to representatives from the Treasure Hunters Roadshow based in Illinois, local antiques are also being bought as treasure.
“We’ve already spent $43,000 in this town since Tuesday,” Tony Prescott, a Treasure Hunters representative out of Tennessee said of Houma. “It’s better than any government stimulus check that you will get for this community.”
According to a press release, the Treasure Hunters Roadshow has visited more than 1000 cities throughout the United States and Canada since 1996 -and the show visits a new city every week.
Local residents are encouraged to bring antiques, collectibles, gold and silver to the Roadshow’s location to learn the history of the item, and of course, how much it’s worth.
“We represent thousands of collectors around the world looking for all types of antiques and collectibles…who are actively seeking items for their collections,” stated Treasure Hunters Roadshow’s frequently asked questions list.
According to Prescott, gold is the best way to earn easy money.
“If people want a guaranteed check, the thing that’s really high right now is the gold,” Prescott said. “A little bit of gold will bring you a big check.”
Houma residents and twins, Mary Frances Louviere and Mary Margaret Guidry, visited the Roadshow location at the Quality Hotel on South Hollywood Road last Friday to sell some of their antiques.
The twins’ prize possession – an antique violin that, they think, was made by Antonio Stradivarius.
“There’s a story behind this violin,” Louviere said. “My father worked at a shipyard, and the owner of the company always told my dad that when he died he was going to leave him something of value. Sure enough, the old man passed away and my daddy gets a phone call. We opened the safe in the shipyard and there is a note that said this is for him, and it was this old violin. When you look inside it does say ‘Stradiv Arius.'”
The twins brought the violin to see if it was a replica or an original.
Prescott eventually determined that the violin was a replica; the only unaccounted for Stradivarius is aboard the Titanic.
Other residents brought various coins to be looked at, antique toys and even seemingly meaningless slips of paper. Prescott purchased an old gas bill stub for $1,000.
That gas bill was originally for $1.03. It belonged to the late President John F. Kennedy.
Prescott said the Treasure Hunters Roadshow is working on hitting cable airwaves soon, too.
“In about 60 days we will have our own TV show,” he said.
The Treasure Hunters Roadshow is extending its stay until this Saturday. Representatives will be looking at antiques from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Mary Margaret Guidry reads an old newspaper clipping about Antonio Stradivarius, the potential maker of her father’s antique violin that she brought to Treasure Hunters Roadshow. JENNA FARMER
