Auctioneer Mark Ferry was recently named Auctioneer of the Year in 2021.

A Unity-based auctioneer has received the top award from the Pennsylvania Auctioneers Association.

Mark Ferry was named auctioneer of the year by the state organization during a yearly conference and meeting in Harrisburg. Ferry was awarded the honor for his leadership, high ethical standards, willingness to share with others and participation in the community.

“I was dumbfounded, at a loss for words,” said Ferry, 65. “I didn’t see it coming.”

Ferry has been in the business for 45 years. After graduating high school, Ferry apprenticed in the auction business, becoming state licensed in 1979, according to his website. Ferry noted that he is a first-generation auctioneer in his family.

“I enjoy the business. I enjoy people,” said the owner of Mark Ferry Auctioneers, which conducts about 50 sales per year. Ferry also is a licensed auctioneer in Ohio and Kentucky.

He has been involved in several noteworthy auctions across Westmoreland County, including the January 2020 sale of hundreds of lots of sports memorabilia— from photographs, trophies, signed cards and jerseys — owned by Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski.

Months later, Ferry handled the sale of Mazeroski’s Hempfield home.

Ferry recently auctioned the contents of the Ramada by Wyndham Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center, which was razed this year to make way for Menards, a Wisconsin-based home improvement store. The hotel quickly became a community staple after its 1978 opening.