STORAGE WARS TRIO: A&E “Storage Wars” TV hosts Dan and Laura Dotson were in town last Friday to help out Mavrick Harvey, left, who hosted a “Celebrity Bingo” fundraiser at the Lucerne Valley Senior Center. Peter Day, Lucerne Valley Leader
By Peter Day
Senior Reporter
LUCERNE VALLEY — “We have a winner!” yelled Dan Dotson as about 50 laser beam-focused bingo players carefully checked their numbers.
Dotson and his wife, Laura, enthusiastically called bingo numbers for more than an hour during last Friday’s “Celebrity Bingo” event at the Lucerne Valley Senior Center. Proceeds from the event, which also included a carne asada taco dinner provided by Adelita’s Mexican Restaurant, benefited the honorary mayor candidacy of MMA fighter Mavrick Harvey, who has appeared on the Dotson’s A&E hit show, “Storage Wars.”
“He’s passionate about everything he does,” Dan Dotson said. “I know a guy like that will bring a lot of positives to Lucerne Valley.”
The Dotsons run American Auctioneers, which administers the reality TV show’s storage auctions. Five-time MMA champ Harvey was featured in an episode last year. After Harvey made his presence felt at the storage auction, the show visited The White Elephant thrift show in Lucerne Valley, owned by Harvey and his curvaceous wife Gwen.
“It’s an interesting auction area in Lucerne,” said Dotson, who started in the business more than 40 years ago.
About a dozen years ago Dotson bid on a storage unit in the Lucerne Valley area that at first seemed dubious. But it turned out to be a great decision.
“I made all kinds of money on that. I think I made $3,000 rather than lose $1,000.”
Dotson said one of the most important factors in bidding on a storage unit is determining whether its owner cared about the contents or whether it was just dumped in the unit. The easiest way to tell: Boxes stacked neatly show care while a chaotic, disorganized unit could indicate the storage unit does not contain valuable items.
The Honorary Mayor race provides fundraising opportunities for the Lucerne Valley Chamber of Commerce. The candidate who raises the most money for the Chamber wins the contest and serves as mayor for a year. Harvey is facing Ron Scriven, a Navy veteran who works at the local Lucerne Valley Market and Hardware Store and several nights a week spins records as a DJ at Adelita’s.
Current Honorary Mayor Lyle Thomas, who has served the town for three years, participated in the bingo event as did former Honorary Mayor Woody Hart, who currently serves as president of the Lucerne Valley Chamber of Commerce. Other Lucerne Valley VIPs were present, including Jerry Byars who calls bingo every week for the Seniors.
Although Lucerne Valley’s honorary mayor position is historically symbolic, Harvey has taken the prospect of winning the race to heart. If chosen, he wants to do whatever he can to help his new hometown.
“God kind of brought me here,” he said. “God sent me for a reason. Now it’s starting to make sense what the reason is.”