UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - More than 300 items -- from a lawn tractor to Penn State football tickets -- will be available at the Pasto Agricultural Museum's annual Silent Auction Aug. 15-16 during Penn State's Ag Progress Days.

Items for bid include antique hand and farm tools, an antique ox yoke, motor oil, an antique hand-crank corn sheller, newer and antique model tractors and trucks, meats from the University Meats Lab, and University Creamery cheese.

Farm production items include bull semen, 10 tons of shredded and baled newsprint for animal bedding, fencing supplies, wheat and corn seed, a four-year subscription to Lancaster Farming, and a set of four Goodyear light truck tires.

Donations for fun and recreation include Penn State football tickets. Among several books is a signed copy of a book by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Items that might make good gifts include photographs and prints of the old Penn State dairy barns and Ag Hill buildings. Also available will be gift baskets, fresh peaches, Penn State milk bottles and a 10-gallon Penn State milk can. Persons looking for antiques will find furniture, a walnut curved stair railing with 39 spindles, an 1800s Ansonia eight-day mantle chime clock, a three-tined fork and an original Victorian oil painting of dairy cattle.

Ice cream antiques will include pewter molds, early tin cone dishers, mechanical dippers of various designs and a 6-quart White Mountain freezer. Six half-gallons of Meyer Dairy ice cream and gift certificates from local supermarkets will offer food variety.

"Buyers will find items to meet practically any interest, need and checking account," says Darwin Braund, museum volunteer curator. " Several toy hay balers will be for sale in support of the museum's featured exhibit and horse-powered demonstrations, titled '300 Years of Haymaking -- 1640-1940.' These items will allow buyers to take home a hay-day memory.

"Donors have been very generous in supplying a wide variety of useful items to help generate funds to preserve the rich heritage of agriculture and rural living," Braund added. "For the seventh consecutive year, Central Pennsylvania John Deere dealers are expected to donate a lawn tractor to the silent auction. All proceeds will go to the Pasto Agricultural Museum Enhancement Campaign."

The auction will also feature a cash-and-carry section where buyers of these items won't have to bid and wait until the end of the auction. Early arrivals will have the advantage in this section.

Bidding will close promptly at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. Successful bidders can pick up their items after payment is processed Wednesday. An additional 15 percent of purchase price ($15 minimum) will be added for items not picked up on Wednesday.

For more information, contact Braund at 814-863-1383, by e-mail at pastoagmuseum@psu.edu or visit the Pasto Web site at http://pasto.cas.psu.edu/.

Penn State's Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 15; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Aug. 16; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 17. Admission and parking are free.

For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days Web site at http://apd.cas.psu.edu/.

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EDITORS: Contact Pasto Museum Curator Darwin Braund at 814-863-1383 or by e-mail pastoagmuseum@psu.edu.

Jeff Mulhollem Writer/Editor Phone: 814-863-2719 E-mail: jjm29@psu.edu