A Catholic nun was at the Bismarck Civic Center on Saturday, hoping to be of service - to herself.

"We're hoping to make the big bucks," Sister Lydia Ann Braun said with a laugh.

Braun, based in Rome, Italy, but currently back home in North Dakota for a visit, wasn't at Mass this day. It was more of an en masse experience as she and her sister-sister, Jackie Hamel, stood in a line of hundreds - a human chain positioned into switchback turns and loops so everyone could all fit into the allocated space.

People were smiley, mainly, as they visited with their line neighbors while carrying or tugging items and making their way from the arena toward the exhibit hall's room full of Antiques Roadshow appraisers.

Braun and Hamel's hope was that their cargo - the oil lamp their family found in the attic of a 100-years-plus family farmhouse - was so exquisitive, so incredible, so invaluable that they could sell it and make enough money to build an apartment onto Hamel's house in Bismarck for their mother.

Roadshow organizers expected to see about 7,000 people Saturday, each bringing two items.

It's expected that the day of filming in Bismarck will provide enough material for three "Roadshow" episodes to be aired sometime in spring of 2006, said Marie Lucero, promotions manager for Prairie Public Broadcasting Inc.

On Saturday, there were extra-fine finds - an 1800s weather vane that the owner bought for $150 and was told it could be sold for $10,000 to $15,000. Surprisingly, she didn't look like she was ready to faint or sing the Hallelujah Chorus solo. Apparently, she is an antique dealer and had a clue before she was given the good news.

And there were items that looked to be valueless - and very well might have been.

Like the stick.

Roadshow organizers reported seeing a man walk in with a stick. Not a carved stick but a stick-stick, a tree branch that looked as if he had plucked it out of the woods on his way to the show.

Appraisers, many from the East Coast, told the Tribune they didn't know what to expect. All those asked said they had never been to North Dakota, but they reported seeing exceptional things.

Simeon Lipman, a sports memorabilia specialist from New York City, appraised a postcard from when a Negro League team played in Dickinson in 1933. The postcard had been signed by all of the team members, including Satchel Paige. It was appraised it at $2,500.

Appraiser Phillip Weiss said a baseball collection he appraised from the 1950s was valued at between $10,000 to $20,000.

Appraiser Stuart Slavid, of Boston, said he was surprised at the quality and variety.

"I've seen a lot of good local pottery," he said.

Jim Hunt, a retired teacher from Devils Lake and a big Roadshow fan, said he wouldn't have missed the Roadshow for the world. He got the opportunity to meet the show's stoppers - the famous appraisal twins, blond and personable Leigh and Leslie Keno. While Hunt had the chance to chat with one, the other was busy giving his appraisal of an old bathtub that wasn't just any bathtub. The tub segment was filmed and will be part of an upcoming show.

"It's like watching a soap opera and getting to meet (the stars)," Hunt said.

Sister Braun's lamp may end up sitting in an apartment, but it won't be paying for one. It's a turn-of-the-century French glass lamp worth $850 - $1,200 if they had the lamp shade. Another item, a camera from the 1964 World's Fair that Braun's sister brought, was appraised at the monumental amount of $1.

"We can always dream," she said about the apartment.

She said it was all worthwhile. The wait was about 90 minutes, and while shuffling the lamp and other items along, there were many interesting people for the sister and her sister to meet. Her appraisal of that? Priceless.

(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at vgrantier@ndonline.com.)