Auction Chant Pro Champ: Pinard takes home first place title in bid calling contest

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During the weekend of January 29-31, the Georgia Auctioneers Association (GAA) held its annual convention and contest in Rome. There were many awards given out there, but Emanuel County brought home the big one when Chris Pinard was named Pro Champion in the 2022 GAA bid calling contest.

“It is a high honor to be named GAA Pro Champion for 2022. The competition was definitely tight among the top three, and I would have been just as proud had one of my friends in the contest took the buckle. To bring the title as well as the championship buckle to Emanuel County, where I got my first opportunity in calling bids, is definitely special,” Pinard humbly stated.

Throughout his auctioning career, Pinard has called bids on numerous properties within Emanuel County. From auctioning cattle at Southern Livestock since 2008, formerly Swainsboro Stockyard, to farm and construction equipment with Lane Brothers Auctions since around 2015, Pinard has been calling bids for a while now. In addition to the local auctions, he also calls bids for Rebel Auction Co. in Hazlehurst and Jackson Regional Stockyard in Jackson.

" Chris has one of the best auction chants that I've heard. His chant has great rhythm and clarity. He always represents Emanuel County well when he competes in these bid calling contest,” stated Rusty Lane, co-owner of Lane Brothers Auction.

Pinard began competing in 2018 and says he’s won a “handful” of awards since, placing 16th in the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship (WLAC ) in 2019; 6th in the 2021 WLAC competition; 2nd at the 2020 GAA; and most recently, in January, when he was named the 2022 GAA Pro Champion. He has qualified to compete at the WLAC 2022 event set for June this year.

“I was fortunate to break the ice and finally win one,” Pinard further stated about his most recent accomplishment.

Since his days in high school, Pinard was labeled a “talker,” and to this day, his extrovert reputation hasn’t changed much at all and seems to have brought much profit (and humor) in his line of work.

“A high school teacher use to constantly scolded me for talking in class. She said, ‘You'll never make a living running your mouth.’ At that time, I thought that was funny. Yet, little did I know that I would be doing just that, 'running my mouth' four years after graduating,” Pinard chuckled. “Once I started down this Auction Path, that one phrase has probably been the largest motivating factor for me to grow, learn and hone my craft daily.”

An extrovert at heart, Pinard, however, doesn’t credit his career success based on his ability to converse with others. Instead, it’s his grandfather who receives credit for Pinard’s passion in auctioneering. According to Pinard, he was bit by the “auction bug” at an early age while spending time attending sales as customers with his grandfather, William Roberts.

“Since that early age, my curiosity grew stronger and finally I got the chance to embark on this path in 2007,” Pinard commented. “I'm humbled at the thought of the people that trusted me with an opportunity early on and pushed me to this point.”

Like most skilled professions, most people that are successful in the bid-calling industry are second or third generation. However, that’s not the case with Pinard who takes great pride in being the first of his family to master the auction chant of a true auctioneer.