One of the first acts toward expansion for the Kinneys was the name change to Bassett Livestock Auction, Inc.  The Kinney brothers began an expansion in the yards, the facilities and in public relations that continues to the present time.  Rich said when they started, there was yardage for around 1000 head.  They rented private property around the business for overflow.  Saturday sales in October were stated to accommodate the increasing number of cattle.  With the purchase of adjacent land and expanded pens, the auction currently can handle 10,000 head.

Barbecue prepared in parking lot
The cattle sorters made good use of the pens at the two-day Barbecue sale on July 12 & 13.  Approximately 9000 head went through the ring during those two days.  Rich recalled the first barbecue beef was prepared in the parking lot in 1963.  They used two 50 gallon barrels with a grate over the wood to cook the beef.  The next year they dug a hole and make a bed of coals, wrapped the beef in aluminum foil and allowed it to cook overnight.  Bob McCartney and Ed Larsen prepared the barbecue for years.  This year 1000 lbs of beef was prepared by George Friedrich and served each day by volunteers from the business community.

The number of cattle expanded as well during the Kinney years.  From selling around 45,000 head yearly in 1960, numbers grew to 85,000 head in the ‘70s and by 1976 over a million head had been sold.  Asked what they did to make the dramatic growth, Rich said “We went out to the country to look at cattle and got them consigned.  We had to convince the guys that we could do a better job for them than anyone else.”

On sale day, Dean was the ringman while Rich sat in the auction booth taking bids.  Although the Kinneys were expanding and modernizing, they had an office manager who kept close tabs on the financial income-outgo of the business.  His name was Earl (Andy) Anderson who had been beeping books almost since the beginning.  Rich commented, “We might not have survived those first years if it hadn’t been for Andy—he kept close track and times would say, “boys, you can’t do that”.  Andy retired in 1967.

Dean Kinney sold his equity to Tom Thompson in 1975.  Rich and Tom continued the expansion trend with the upper level addition in 1984 where a Board of Trade office was located for awhile, along with other offices.  The volume of cattle increased to 100,000 head annually which has been maintained to the present time.  Additional property and facilities were added to handle the numbers.

In 1994, Tom sold his equity to Rich who became sole owner.  That same year the Kinney connection continued with Rich being associated with this son-in-law, Bim Nelson and daughter, Jeri, who is the office manager.  Expansion continued.  In 1999, for ease of handling livestock, a 60x120 foot steel building was erected with pens and alleys connected to the sale ring for final sorting.

Tom Thompson, who is an order buyer these days, commented that the facilities at Bassett Livestock are the best he has seen in the state for keeping cattle ahead of the sale.  Rich added that a bale feeder in the pens accommodate the cattle more like home conditions and that it is not unusual for the cattle to come in on Saturday before the Wednesday sale.

In August 2001, Rich and Marg Kinney announced the sale of Bassett Livestock Auction, Inc. to Bim and Jeri Nelson and Don and Marsha Painter.  Their many years of ownership are recorded in part in a scrapbook of memories of pictures and milestones.

Rich mentioned a few of the people who through the years helped to make the enterprise work.  He gave praise to J.W. Merritt who was a staunch supporter, Kick Kane of Wisner was an auctioneer for years; Art and Leo DeBolt and Bill Hugerford were long-time employees.  For almost 40 years, Marcella Maurer worked in the office on sale days and for 20 of those years, Edith Keller was the ticket currier.  John Ammon remembers attending the sale at the snow fence location and also worked on sale days for 20 yrs.