CITY PLANS LARGEST `YARD SALE' IN FIVE YEARS

The city of Cape Girardeau will auction more than 100 bicycles and hundreds of other items of property next week.

The items, all unclaimed or abandoned property received by police and surplus property owned by the city, will be sold at auction starting at 10 a.m. May 22 at Arena Park.

All of the items will be on display for public view from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. prior to the start of the sale.

"We normally hold the sale at least once or twice a year. But we missed last year, so we've really got a large inventory of items to get rid of," said Mary Seyer, a civilian employee of the police department who is custodian of evidence and unclaimed property. "This will be the largest sale we've had in five years."

Seyer said over 100 bicycles ranging from "cheap to expensive" will be sold, including children's bikes, BMX dirt bikes, and three-speed, 10-speed, 15-speed and 18-speed mountain and all-terrain bikes.

"Most of these are bikes that were found and turned into the police department. They have never been claimed by the owners," Seyer said. "Most of the bikes were probably stolen then abandoned by the person who took them."

Seyer said many of the bikes could be returned to their owners if they could be identified.

"We get a lot of calls at the police station from people who want to know if their bike has been recovered," she said. "I always ask for a description of the bike and serial number so we can check our computer list. Most of the time they cannot even give me a good description, much less the serial number, so I ask them to come down to the station to try to identify the bike. Some do, but most don't bother to come in.

"It seems like our society today is a throw-away society; they would rather go get something new than take the time to find a lost or stolen piece of property that we might have recovered," she said.

Other unclaimed and stolen property that will be sold include a car radio, a trash bag full of stuffed animals, A man's Seiko watch and a Seiko woman's watch, assorted Christmas decorations, lawn decorations, and items of new clothing that were stolen from stores now closed and later recovered.

Also20on sale are lawn mowers, a credit card machine, a gold nugget ring, assorted costume jewelry, golf clubs, and a black rollbar Go Cart, with brown leather seat.

One of the most unusual items that will be sold is a MSI brand ordering machine-computer that was found and turned into the police department.

"We know it belongs to some company, but we've contacted everyone around here and no one has reported any of their's missing," said Seyer. "The machine has cosmetics and goods programmed in it, so it must have been owned by a grocery store chain or supply company. It may have been used by one of their salesmen when calling on his food store accounts. It is an expensive and specialized piece of equipment."

Seyer said anyone who would like to see if their lost or stolen property has been recovered will have a final chance to reclaim the property during the public viewing prior to the auction. For more information contact Seyer at police headquarters, 335-6621.

In addition to the unclaimed property that was turned in or recovered from thefts, Seyer said the police department will also sell surplus office and business equipment such as file cabinets, chairs, desks, old typewriters, and speakerphones. "Most of it is outdated, but can still be used," she said.

Seyer keeps two boxes in her office for keys and eyeglasses that have been turned into police. "If anyone has lost their keys or glasses, they go to police headquarters and look through the two boxes.

Surplus property that will be sold by the public works department includes a large number of weed cutters, several lawn mowers, a 1976 one-half-ton Ford truck, four Dodge Diplomat sedans, one Ford LTD, and two 1982 Honda 500 Trident motorcycles.

These items will also be on public view at Arena Park prior to the start of the sale.