Found. The Motherload.When he tore the roof off the house, he found them all neatly boxed up, packed to the attic rafters. As a demolition man in a farm town, Ivan has seen a hell of a lot in his 91 years. So nothing surprises him anymore. Ivan is tough as nails, whip-smart, and disarmingly sarcastic. Hell tell you all about his one wooden foot, one glass eye, and a million good stories. When Ivan was still young at 75, he was driving his plow truck on the ice on a back road & long story short, he got pinned under it & trapped for 7 hours before being found (with a partially crushed skull, arm, and pelvis) He considers himself lucky to have lost just a leg, an eye, and part of an arm. Stories like this are what you collect (among other things) when youre a military vet and a demolition man. Hes spent his life uncovering all sorts of collections while taking down old houses.Ivan thinks it was around 61 when he tore down Chesters house in Rushville. It was just another abandoned house hed been called to levelone of hundreds hed tackled. The way he tells it, hed just torn a big chunk of the roof when he saw it. (What was left behind filled the rafters to the gills.) Folks just leave stuff they dont wanna deal withhow do ya think I filled all these damn barns? Touring Ivans acres of barns is perfect for @ontwolanes @mikewolfeamericanpicker -Its part scrap yard, part Museum of American Rural History. I wont reveal just how much hes amassed, but its enough antique chainsaws alone to open a museum. So it wasnt surprising that when he found those boxes in Chesters attic, he decided to save them, too. By the looks of it, Chester had been an avid sportsmanhed collected every imaginable magazine for hunting and fishing from the 20s – 60s. So Ivan did what he always does: pulled it all out & hauled it back to his barn – where it would sit for the next 60 years. Ive been visiting Ivan every year for the past few years. My little brothera lineman in the county who knows everybodytakes us. Ivan lets us dig around, and he remembers where every item came from. What we found this time blew our minds. CONT IN COMMENTS

January 8, 2025 • Published by Tereasa Surratt • Instagram