The hosts of 'American Pickers' buy items from Mario Binette during a filming trip to the state.
Mario Binette considers himself "a low-profile type of
guy," but even he couldn't resist going on television when the hosts of
his favorite show came knocking.
Mario Binette, center, says
“American Pickers” hosts Mike Wolfe, left, and Frank Fritz were “just as
crazy and nutty as they are on TV” when they visited his business in
Arundel last week.
Courtesy Mario Binette
Mario Binette, operator of Champion
Auto in Arundel, used to collect old motorcycles and bicycles, but now
he’s focused more on antique toys, signs and gas-station memorabilia.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, hosts of the History Channel
show "American Pickers," were scouring the back roads and byways of
southern Maine for neglected antiques last week when they stopped at
Binette's business, Champion Auto in Arundel. They wanted to check out
Binette's collection of old motorcycle and bicycle items and anything
else he had stored away.
"I love that show so much, and to have the two guys come here ...," Binette said. "They're just as crazy and nutty as they are on TV, and act just like me."
Wolfe and Fritz arrived in Portland with a production crew on Sept.
14 and spent the next five days snooping around the Wells-Kennebunk
region, said Heather Dirubba, a representative of the History Channel.
Their last day in Maine was Sunday.
It was the show's first visit to Maine, Dirubba said. The production
crew stayed in Portland's Old Port and had dinner at Fore Street while
they were here.
Dirubba would not reveal the stops that Wolfe and Fritz made during
their stay, but the rumor mill had said that in addition to Champion
Auto, the duo visited Bentley's Saloon in Arundel and the Johnson Hall
Museum in Wells.
The visit to the museum could not be confirmed. At Bentley's, manager
Lisa Zatalava said "American Pickers" was supposed to visit the saloon
Sept. 14 after finishing up at Champion Auto, which is right next door,
but all they got was an autographed poster. "They were going to try to
squeeze us in, but they didn't have enough time," she said.
In an odd coincidence, however, Bentley's got a visit from another
History Channel show Monday, "The Hairy Bikers." The BBC show is coming
to the United States this fall.
Zatalava said the "Hairy Bikers" production crew filmed in the saloon
Monday, and seemed especially interested in the bar's pig roaster,
which has motorcycle pipes and handlebars.
"It's two bikers who travel around the country, and they eat things
that you would never want to eat," Zatalava said. "We got scouted out
because they want to do an American version of the show now. It's
supposed to start airing mid-October."
"American Pickers" is about two men, Wolfe and Fritz, who scour the
country for potentially valuable items that may have been ignored by
others, hoping to resell their finds to collectors, antique stores and
museums. They typically rummage through junkyards, old barns, garages
and any other place where there could be "buried treasure."
The show apparently learned about Binette and his interest in old
motorcycles through a swap meet in Florida. He is a longtime collector
who pokes around antique shops and junkyards as a hobby.
