Fargo, ND – Vern Vandegrift was lighting a cigar out in their cold, un-insulated, detached garage when he noticed something up in the frozen rafters.
It appeared to be an old dusty box.
Vern somehow got the box down from the rafters to take a peak inside.
He carefully slid a well-wrapped framed picture out of the old box and safely onto his garage workbench.
What he found himself looking at was a signed original painting by one of the most elusive French painters of all time: Jan-Panko LaPlonk.
The painting turned out to be the rarely seen “Circus Sunday” which had been lost since the mid-1800’s. Its value is estimated to be $1,000,000.
Now, Vern Vandegrift lights his cigar out in a warm, well-insulated garage. On the wall next to him hangs Jan-Panko LaPlonk’s rarely seen “Circus Sunday”.