About Us

Our company was started fifty years ago by Clint and Nola Johnson of Troy, Idaho. After working as a cashier and clerk for auctioneer Bud Nearing of Moscow, Clint fell in love with the auction business and attended the Western College of  Auctioneering in Billings in 1970. After graduating, he sold for a few years with Bud before opening Clints Auction Service with Nola. Clint quickly became an efficient bid caller and Nola’s knowledge of antiques and collectibles made them a dynamic duo. Their sons and daughter took on roles within the company and it soon became a family business. 

 

After graduating from college, daughter Renee moved to a small town in Oregon to teach school. It was there that she met her husband Gary Lam, also an educator. Not long after they were married, Gary headed off to become an auctioneer. Upon graduating from the Western College of Auctioneering in 1982, Gary & Renee opened Lam Auctions in Halfway, Oregon. They moved back to Idaho in 1985 and Gary joined Clint on the auction stand. Clints and Lam Auctions was born. 

 

Gary and Renee have two daughters.  Darby, a U of I graduate in Early Childhood Development, attended her first auction when she was only one week old.  Shandy, a U of I graduate in Communications, came along five years later and was passed around the auction crowd at only one day old. It was inevitable that the two would become a part of the family business!  Their first auction job was running a candy stand.

 

Darby and her husband Kason Baldwin keep busy with two wild girls - that remind us a lot of the original twisted sisters. Darby works at the Pullman Police Department as the Assistant to the Chief of Police. She continues to join the family on the weekends. After watching Grandma Nola closely throughout the years. Darby has developed a good knowledge of antiques and collectibles. Whether registering customers, working the floor, cashiering or auctioneering,  you've likely seen her dabble in everything within the span of a sale.

 

Kambri Cole, 12, has taken on the role of Queen at the sales. She has the crowd wrapped around her finger and eats more maple bars than she should! She loves to hold up merchandise, bids from the front row and bosses her grandpa around. Kambri likes typing on the computer and helping customers. It won't be long before this little girl is running the place!

Brylie Shay, now 8, adds a lot of sass and fun to auction days. She likes to sit up front with Grandpa while he sells. and enjoys clerking. That's a tough position, so we're glad she is starting early! 

 

Shandy recently moved to southern Idaho where she works full-time as the Deputy Director of Communications for the county's highway district. For years, she watched her grandpa and dad auctioneer, and followed in their footsteps to Billings in 2008. After graduating from the Western College of Auctioneering, she began rotating in with Clint and Gary as an auctioneer at each sale. She has also found a love for fundraising auctions, and spends many a "day off" working with local organizations to raise money for a good cause.

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When Clint and Nola decided that it was time to “retire”, a concept that they never really fully understood, they turned the company over to the capable hands of Gary & Renee. Not much has changed since the company started way back when.  Clint spent his last weekend at an auction before we lost him in 2009.  Nola claimed a seat in the front row for a few years, before we sadly retired her bid number in 2016. Even with new changes each year, one thing will always remain the same; our customers can count on an honest sale. 

 

Clint and Nola built the company with the belief that their customers deserved to be treated with respect. "Every seller's merchandise should be treated the way you would want your grandma's sold."  Clint's honesty and integrity are what have kept our company intact for so many years. We stand proudly behind our motto of "Four Generations of Honest Hard Work" and for as long as those who loved Clint & Nola are in charge, things will never change.