DANBURY, CONN. — Now’s the time to climb up into your attic or creep into your crawl space: Harry Rinker, a nationally recognized antiques and collectibles expert, will conduct a Verbal Appraisal Clinic at Western Connecticut State University’s Westside campus later this month. The clinic will raise scholarship funds for WestConn Arts and Sciences students who need financial support for their studies abroad.

Rinker will conduct verbal appraisals from 6 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, March 29, in the Grand Ballroom of the Westside Campus Center on the university’s Westside campus, Lake Avenue Extension in Danbury. Individuals who wish to have articles examined can purchase tickets for $10 per item, or three items for $25. The tickets are numbered and correspond to hourlong appraisal sessions, so participants can determine whether they will receive their verbal appraisal(s) between 6 and 7 p.m., 7 and 8 p.m., 8 and 9 p.m. or 9 and 10 p.m. The public is invited to watch the entire event for $10.

“My job is like Christmas every day,” Rinker said. “Every time I do an appraisal clinic, people bring hundreds of packages I get to unwrap and play with. Who can complain about a job like that?!”

For items too large to be transported to the Westside Campus Center, Rinker suggested bringing a photograph and a small sample, such as a single drawer from a dresser or chair from a dining room set. The verbal appraisal can provide a general sense of what an object is worth, but cannot be used for insurance coverage, insurance claim or gift valuation purposes.  

“I’d like to remind people that items of value don’t necessarily have to belong to their parents or grandparents,” Rinker said. “If you’re over 40, you probably have things from your childhood that are already worth money.”

Rinker has been a well-known figure in the antiques and collectibles circuit for several decades. He hosted 78 weekly, half-hour episodes of “Collector Inspector” on Home and Garden Television (HGTV) from 2002 to 2004, and appeared in two HGTV specials: “2003 Endless Yard Sale” and “Collectibles: Coast to Coast” during the same time period. A frequent guest on television and radio shows, Rinker has been on “Oprah,” “Home Matters,” “Martha Stewart Living,” “Inside Edition,” “Wall Street Journal Report,” “Good Morning America,” “Today,” “CBS This Morning” and more.

Since the early 1990s, Rinker has appeared on hundreds of regional and local radio and television shows. He currently hosts “Whatcha Got,” a nationally syndicated radio call-in show that airs Sunday mornings from 8 to 10 a.m. on more than three dozen stations, including WLIS in Old Saybrook and WMRD in Middletown, Conn. The show premiered in March 2006, and also can be heard via live Internet stream at www.goldenbroadcasters.com.

Rinker has authored more than 55 books, including the recent “How to Think Like a Collector,” the soon to be released “My Favorite Finds: Flea Market Journal from Potter Style” and “The Official Guide to Flea Market Prices, Second Edition.” He also pens weekly, monthly and bimonthly columns in periodicals including Antique Collector and Auction Guide, Antique Week, Collectors Journal, Antiques and Collecting Magazine and countless others. His “Rinker on Collectibles” column appears in weekly syndication coast to coast.

Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Dr. Linda Vaden-Goad said the event promises to be both educational and entertaining.

“We are so excited about Harry Rinker’s Verbal Appraisal Clinic for two reasons,” Vaden-Goad said. “First, we all have items in our houses that we would like to know more about — their value and history! Second, this is such a wonderful opportunity to raise money for our students to travel and enrich their educations. There are lots of opportunities for students to travel and study with faculty, but those who do not have the personal funds have a difficult time getting to access those opportunities. This will help us change that situation.”

For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486. To purchase tickets, call (203) 837-8499 or visit www.wcsu.edu/tickets.