THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 8, 1995 TAG: 9506070176
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
There's a miniature trophy on Robert Bishop's desk that declares he is the ``World's Greatest Salesman.'' The person who gave it to him must know him well.
Bishop, it seems, is a man people can't say no to. What else would explain his uncanny ability to get folks to clean out their garages, attics, stocks and pocketbooks all over Virginia every year about this same time?
Bishop has been traveling the state, picking up donations for the Zuni Presbyterian Center's annual auction, scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Saturday.
It's a fund-raising effort started by Bishop in 1990, soon after he realized that, in addition to being the center's director and a great salesman, he had ``God-given'' talent as an auctioneer.
All proceeds from the auction go toward operating the rural educational center, which provides short-term residential care for mentally retarded people older than 18. Bishop is fond of calling the center ``Zuni Tech'' because it provides four years of lessons in life-coping skills.
This year on the auction block will be yet another assortment of wonderful and curious things. Refrigerators, freezers, all kinds of appliances. Furniture, indoor and outdoor. Antiques. Carpets. Bathtubs - new and old. An assortment of old cameras. Even an elderly - quite elderly - movie projector, complete with cardboard containers filled with film canisters on topics like ``Ancient Greece.''
Bishop's also managed to collect a couple of cars. One of them is a one-owner '85 Peugeot.
Ask Bishop, who has been director at the Zuni Center for more than 20 years, a question about himself, and he'll tell you about the programs at the center.
Ask him about himself, and he'll tell you how wonderful people are to donate to the auction and how good it makes them feel.
Just being around Bishop, with all of his energy and enthusiasm, must make them feel good as well. I asked him if his energy comes from vitamins in those peanuts that residents process and market. The center's peanut-processing branch is just one of the enterprises Bishop has helped start there since the original concept changed from a kind of agricultural venture.
``I have an elephant,'' he said, his eyes lighting up as he sprinted off to another storage shed to show off more of his extensive auction collection.
When the Zuni center first started, Bishop said, mental health experts thought the proper placement for retarded people was in farm-related employment. Today, we know that far more diverse pursuits are possible. Of the 50 residents there, 23 are employed in local businesses, Bishop said. Others work in the custodial service the center provides to local churches. Still others are involved in peanut processing or the on-campus greenhouse operation.
The success of the auction, he said, has taken ``a lot of letter writing and cultivation over a period of years.'' It's also taken a lot of public relations efforts on Bishop's part to educate others about the center.
``The Zuni program is not a stranger to most of our supporters,'' Bishop said. ``They've been hearing about the Zuni center, and most of them have made personal visits here.''
Whether it's an educational center for mentally challenged young people or a wide assortment of auction items, Bishop is always more than happy to show off what he has. And he's eager to talk about it.
On Saturday, he'll have another of my favorite talkers - Herb Jones - giving him a hand. Like Bishop, Jones is also a licensed auctioneer.
Lunch and refreshments will be served by the Colonial Heights Civitan Club. Bishop said to bring lawn chairs.
He also said: ``You're bound to find a bargain. That's what auctions are all about.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
Robert Bishop says he has God-given talent as an auctioneer.
by CNB