‘Antiques Roadshow’ rolls into Portland
AUGUST 24, 2017 // 9
‘ANTIQUES
ROADSHOW’
ROLLS INTO
PORTLAND
Three episodes filmed at
Oregon Convention Center
will air during 2018 season
By JANAE EASLON
FOR COAST WEEKEND
leather pelt found in Hitler’s bunker.
A rocking chair originating from
19th century Venice, Italy.
An Alaskan totem pole worth
$4,000.
These rare treasures came together in
Portland earlier this month for the filming of
PBS’s longest running program, “Antiques
Roadshow.”
The reality series made its fifth pit stop
Saturday, Aug. 12, in the City of Roses for
the 22nd season’s six-city tour. Of 23,000
applications for tickets, roughly 3,000 people
were randomly selected to attend.
The last stop on the tour is Newport,
Rhode Island, on Friday, Sept. 22. Previous
locations: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Green
Bay, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri; and
New Orleans, Louisiana.
Three Portland episodes will premiere
during the 2018 season of “Antiques Road-
show,” which airs 8 p.m. Mondays on OPB
and PBS affiliate stations.
A
PHOTOS BY JANAE EASLON
Heather wheeled in a 6-foot Jesus statue from her home to the “Antiques Roadshow” pit stop in Portland.
a friend in New York City when she saw a
church being renovated. Jesus was sitting on
the sidewalk, and she asked the construction
workers if she could take him home with her.
Heather doesn’t plan on selling the
sculpture; it wouldn’t feel right in her home
without him, she said.
Mystery pelt
‘Jesus is here!’
Everyone at the Roadshow shares the
same excitement, eager to learn the answer to
their question: What is the story behind my
items?
At the Oregon Convention Center on Aug.
12, people on set know they are in the pres-
ence of history. Strangers talk with each other
about what they brought. They have come to
meet appraisers and experts from across the
country.
From the entrance, two women wheel a
Katy shows her great grandmother Edna’s leather pelt she recovered from Hitler’s bunker in
1945. Edna served as General George S. Patton’s nurse during World War II.
6-foot Jesus sculpture to the “metalwork and
sculpture” appraisal table.
“Jesus is here!” Heather, the sculpture’s
owner, announces.
Jason Preston, from Jason Art Advisory &
Appraisals in Los Angeles, inspects the sculp-
ture and finds it is made of plaster and wood.
With its aged appearance and use of materi-
als, Preston said it could sell for about $1,500.
“I watch TV with Jesus everyday,” Heath-
er said. “As soon as you come in the door,
you see him right in front of you.”
The sculpture has been in Heather’s family
for several years, she said. Her sister visited
After meeting appraisers, guests can stop
at the Roadshow feedback booth to share
their experiences.
A one-of-a-kind item belonging to a wom-
an named Katy stumped the appraisers.
The leather pelt found by her Grandma
Edna in Adolf Hitler’s bunker in 1945 has a
Hungarian stamp on the back, and without
someone on staff who knows Hungarian,
Katy was told to continue researching the pelt
after leaving the roadshow.
Grandma Edna worked as General George
S. Patton’s nurse, Katy said, clasping newspa-
per clippings about her grandma’s story. After
Hitler’s death and bunker invasion, Edna
found the pelt and took it back home to the
United States following the war.
Continued on Page 16