‘It’s sad it’s going away’

Items from iconic attraction that began in the 1950s auctioned

Dana Lape, who was 4 years old when he first visited Roadside America Miniature Village near Shartlesville with his father in the late 1960s, returned Saturday for one last look at the layout of Americana that enthralled him as a child.

Lape, 56, an agricultural supply worker in Lebanon County, was after more than a final farewell, though.

He was a registered bidder in an online auction of the 8,000-square-foot display Laurence Gieringer began building in 1935.

“Just to have one piece would be really cool,” said Lape, who had his eye on a miniature railroad bridge for his son in Indiana.

Lape was among dozens of registered bidders who came for a close-up look at the 700 or so lots offered in a six-week online

RON DEVLIN — MEDIANEWS GROUP Jeff Thomas, traveled from Port Tobacco, Md., to get one last view of the Roadside America display near Shartlesville and to bid on some of its components.

RON DEVLIN — MEDIANEWS GROUP PHOTOS Left: Rick and Nancy Unruh of Douglassville eye the replica of a country church at the final day of the Roadside America auction.

Above: The old Berks County Courthouse at Fifth and Penn streets was a favorite of bidders at the online auction of Roadside America Miniature Village.