WestConn to host appraisal clinic for antiques, collectibles, heirlooms
DANBURY, CONN. — Do you own a family heirloom that you’ve always wanted to know more about? Are you planning a garage sale and wonder what to charge for the things you are selling? Perhaps you have something unusual and simply want to know more about it.
Get the answers April 3 at the Antiques, Collectibles, and Family Heirloom Appraisal Clinic at Western Connecticut State University, featuring Harry Rinker, nationally known antiques and collectibles expert. Rinker is host of WHATCHA GOT?, a syndicated radio-call in show, and author of Sell, Keep, or Toss?: How to Downsize a Home, Settle an Estate, and Appraise Personal Property.
This is Rinker’s second appearance at WestConn. His 2007 Appraisal Clinic sold out.
WestConn’s Antiques, Collectibles, and Family Heirloom Appraisal Clinic will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the university’s Westside Campus Center, Lake Avenue Extension, in Danbury.
A verbal appraisal costs $10 per item, three items for $25. Funds raised will be used for WestConn Arts and Sciences student travel-study scholarships.
Numbered tickets, which can be purchased in advance, are sold in hour-long blocks. You pick the hour that best suits you. Tickets also will be available at the door.
If you have an interest in antiques and collectibles but do not have an object to be appraised, you may attend and just watch for $10. Rinker appraises live on stage so that everyone in the audience can hear what he has to say.
For large items, Rinker will work with photos. If the photo is of a dining suite, bring a chair. If it is of a bedroom suite, bring a drawer.
Don’t worry if the item you want appraised is not “antique.” The 1960s and 1970s are hot collecting decades. Things that belong to you or your children might be worth more than those that belonged to your ancestor.
Rinker owns Rinker Enterprises, Inc., a firm specializing in providing appraisal, consulting, editorial, educational, media, personal appearance, research, and writing services in the antiques and collectibles field. In addition to a staff of qualified researchers, Rinker Enterprises draws regularly on the expertise of advisors located throughout the United States and Canada.
Rinker is the author of more than 20 titles on antiques and collectibles, including “Sell, Keep or Toss? How to Downsize a Home, Settle and Estate, and Appraise Personal Property,”published in 2007. His syndicated column “Rinker on Collectibles” appears weekly in newspapers nationwide, and he appears frequently on television shows including Oprah, the Today show, and Good Morning America.
In addition, Rinker makes numerous guest appearances at antiques shows, trade shows and exhibitions, home and garden shows, educational institutions, and museum and historic sites where he lectures and/or conducts verbal appraisal clinics. This November, he will lead a group tour of the Christmas markets of Germany and Austria.
Rinker hosts WHATCHA GOT?, a nationally syndicated antiques and collectibles call-in radio show that airs on Sunday mornings from 8 to 10 a.m. WHATCHA GOT? also streams live and is archived on the Internet at www.goldenbroadcasters.com. Currently the WHATCHA GOT? radio network has more than 50 affiliates in 25 states. In Connecticut, WHATCHA GOT? can be heard on WLIS 1420 AM in Old Saybrook and WMRD 1150 AM in Middletown.
Rinker is often quoted in the nation’s leading magazines and newspapers such as Business Week, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, Newsday, U.S. News & World Report, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Your Money Magazine. The Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, and Knight-Ridder services have circulated feature articles to the newspaper media about Rinker and his collections.
For advanced ticket sales, call (203) 837-TIXX. For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.
